


Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas

by amirantina



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, At first they hate each other, But then Newt realizes the guy isn't that bad, Depressed Newt, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, It'll be explained ok, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, They've both been through a lot, Tutoring, Underage Drinking, but I promise the cuteness will come, hint hint, like really damn slow, not anymore though, really a lot, sad Thomas, they're seniors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-05-26 22:33:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 52,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15010868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirantina/pseuds/amirantina
Summary: Newt's life is kind of great. He has amazing friends, school is going well, his parents are nice, he's recovered from his issues; he is kind of happy, for the first time in a long time.And then he has to tutor Thomas. Now that wouldn't be the worst thing ever, if it weren't for one thing; they absolutely, utterly,hateeach other.But after a while, Newt starts to see other sides of the boy, sides he knows no one else does, and in return he opens up to the guy, trying to heal old scars.Little did he know that Thomas could take him on such an emotional rollercoaster.But he would lie if he said he didn't enjoy it.





	1. Grumpy beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt finds out that the next few months of his life are probably going to be hell, and that Thomas is the worst person he's ever met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, I've had this idea for a while, and I finally decided to write it, so I hope you like it. I'm not going to waste your time with reading these notes, but I just hope you could give this story a chance; it may be a little boring or not-cute in the beginning, but I promise that there's a lot more to come and that it really isn't going to be as superficial as you may think.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy reading this, and I genuinely hope you like it.
> 
> Love, Meg <3
> 
> *just a reminder that this isn’t your jock/nerd au because I don’t like those (I always pity the nerd); they’re both popular and have friends <3

"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas." -Blaise Pascal

\- The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of

#### Monday - September 19th

Newt hated being late. He always had. He thought that if you came later than you said you would, you’re not valuing the time of another person. That you’re acting like your time is more important than somebody else’s. And that was, for him, definitely not the case. 

So that’s why he was running through the hallways now, looking for his French classroom and kind of hating himself. He had to pick up something for his mom, and was already late because his English teacher decided the lesson could be a little longer. And if he’d leave now, he might still make it.

But he couldn’t, because he had to see his French teacher. 

Mr. Charron had asked him to come after school, because _we need to talk about something Mr. Isaacs_.

Newt wondered about what it could be. French had always been his best subject; he got straight A’s and paid attention in class. Why did they have to talk about something? 

He arrived at the closed door and knocked twice, trying to catch his breath a little. For some reason he felt nervous, like he was a little boy that was going to get punished.

When he heard the ‘come in!’, he stepped inside, warily looking around. He was surprised to see that there was another person in the room next to Mr. Charron. His teacher was sitting at his desk, and there was a boy leaning against a table, his arms crossed and looking a little pissed off. 

Newt stepped forward and nodded to his teacher and the boy, who finally looked up and sent him a death glare.

Thomas.

_Huh?_

What the hell was he doing here? 

The thing was, Newt and Thomas didn’t go very well together. They never had a fight, but they also had never really talked to each other. And Newt felt no need to change that. 

Newt did have some classes with him, but they were both in different friend groups, so they didn’t cross paths much outside of them. When they did, usually a short nod or a quiet ‘hey’ was all their interaction. 

Something about Thomas bugged Newt. The guy was popular, seemed very nice and open to everyone and was good looking, with his messy brown hair and his sun kissed skin and his muscles and his eyes and cheekbones and… okay, whatever, he was hot okay? Newt’d give him that. 

But he was probably also the guy who fucked around with every girl in sight just because he could, and Newt hated those types. 

Conclusion: it didn’t click between them. It was not like they’d ever given it the chance, but sometimes you just have those people who don’t feel right. Thomas was one of those. Newt didn’t like him.

And judging from the way Thomas was looking at him like he ruined his life, the brunet probably didn’t like him either. 

He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the teacher in question. “Hello, I’m here?”

The teacher smiled sweetly at him and readjusted some papers on his desk. “Newt, this is Thomas. Thomas, this is Newt.”

Newt frowned at the teacher and stole a quick glance at Thomas who looked like he wanted to murder someone. 

“I know who he is, sir. What am I doing here?” Newt asked, an unsettling feeling creeping up his neck. 

The teacher flicked his eyes between Thomas and Newt and settled on the latter, a smug smile forming on his face. “You are going to tutor Thomas.”

Newt felt his stomach flip in surprise because no. He could only raise his eyebrows more and shake his head once. “No, I am not.” 

Tutoring? Like hell that was going to happen. 

The teacher leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Yes you are. You’ll start tomorrow.”

Newt huffed a humorless laugh and briefly looked at Thomas, who was still trying to kill Mr. Charron with his eyes.

“Sir, I’m sure that there are a lot of other people who’d _love_ to do this.” Newt pointed out, gesturing to Thomas as a whole and stepping forward to the desk. Thomas rolled his eyes and sighed, annoying Newt even more.

It was the truth, there were a lot of girls (and boys probably too) who’d want to help Thomas. With French. And _other_ things. Why him?

The teacher only looked more satisfied with himself. “That’s exactly why I chose you, Newton.”

Seriously? Out of the corner of his eye, Newt saw Thomas raise his eyebrows and snort. He silently cursed the teacher even more. He did _not_ want Thomas to know his real name. That all his friends were constantly joking about him being a salamander was one thing, but he couldn’t deal with the whole _Thomas-gang_ teasing him about it too. (that’s how he called them. They weren’t all bad, especially Frypan and Brenda seemed pretty nice, but because they were with Thomas he never bothered to really get to know them.)

Mr. Charron kept going like nothing happened. “I don’t want mister Edison here to get distracted by girls or… boys,” the rasped his throat and looked down, as if saying boys in this context was completely wrong. Thomas started blushing and Newt just raised an exasperated eyebrow at the whole situation. 

_Really guys? It’s 2018._

Mr. Charron shook his head. “ _people_ , who want other things from him. And judging from the way you two just looked at each other, that won’t happen with you.”

Newt resisted the urge to groan because yeah, that was true. He definitely didn’t want _other_ things from Thomas, but that still didn’t make it okay. He didn’t want to do this; it would take way too much time, he’d have to spend time with Thomas, and his life was already busy enough without tutoring a stupid brunette. 

“But sir-” Newt pleaded, but he was cut off. 

“No Newton, this is not up for discussion. You are the best student we’ve got for this subject and Thomas is about the worst, so this is happening, whether you like it or not.”

Thomas sighed. “What if-” 

“No.” Their teacher pointed a finger at him.

Both Newt and Thomas groaned. _Fuck_. 

“And don’t worry Newt, you’ll get extra credit.”

Newt closed his eyes for a second. “Yeah, that makes everything okay.” He muttered under his breath, before looking up again to see that Thomas was biting his lip.

“How long?” The brunet asked, voice dripping in hatred. Newt was not sure if it was directed at the teacher or at him. 

_Probably both_. 

Mr. Charron cockily raised his eyebrow. “Until graduation,”

_WHAT?! That was all of senior year!_

Thomas perfectly voiced his thoughts with a shocked “What?! No fucking way!” and then the teacher cocked his head and nonchalantly inspected his fingernails. 

“Or, until your not failing anymore.” He finished with a sarcastic smile.

Thomas sighed in defeat and let his head fall forward.

Newt opened his mouth to protest, but his teacher sent him a glare before he could get a word out. He pursed his lips and ran a hand over his face. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

A genuinely satisfied smile came onto the teacher’s face and Newt and Thomas both looked like they wanted to slap it off. Newt took a deep breath and tried to get rid of the frustration as it wouldn’t help anyways. His only hope was now that Thomas suddenly became a star in French and that the whole tutoring didn’t last too long.

Probably wouldn’t happen, though. Fuck his life.

“Nope, you don’t have a choice.” The older man grabbed some books from under his desk and held them out to Newt. He grabbed them reluctantly and stuffed them in his bag. 

“So, those are all the books you’ll need. Now, exchange numbers or whatever you kids do these days to keep in touch. I’ll check up on you every once in a while.” The teacher grabbed his bag and stood up, sending one last smile to both boys.

They both nodded out of politeness and then, they were alone in the classroom. 

Newt slowly turned to Thomas, who really seemed to be trying to burn him with his gaze. Newt rolled his eyes. “Well, this should be fun.”

Thomas scoffed and blatantly gave him an once-over. “Can’t wait.” 

Damn, who did this guy think he was? It was not like Newt wanted this. 

Newt expectantly held a hand out and Thomas eyed it as if he was crazy. He sighed and made grabby hands. “Your phone?” He realized that it may’ve sounded a little harsh, but Thomas was treating him like dirt, so he didn’t really care.

The brunet raised his eyebrows, trying to come off nonchalant, but Newt saw the light bulb going on above his head. He wordlessly pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Newt, making sure their hands didn’t touch once. 

Newt wanted to punch the guy, but he stayed above it and quickly added the number.

When he’d put it in, he handed the phone back and gave Thomas his. The brunet frowned and then finally looked him in the eye, looking genuinely confused. 

Newt resisted the urge to sigh loudly and instead rolled his eyes. “I don’t trust you, so I want your number too for when you decide not to text me.”

Thomas huffed and shook his head like he was offended, but took the phone anyways. He typed in his number and then gave the phone back to Newt. He raised one eyebrow as to say: _well there you go you asshole,_ and Newt was ready to slam the guy's head into a desk.

“Thanks.” He took a deep breath to suppress whatever sarcastic comment that was threatening to leave his mouth, because it would only make Thomas more angry. He put the phone back in his pocket, meeting Thomas’ eyes again when he was done. 

The brunet had already picked up his bag and was standing a few feet away, looking at him. He crossed his arms across his chest and after a few beats of silence he raised his eyebrows. “So….” He said, drawing out the o. 

Newt nodded slowly and was at a complete loss for words. Did they have to talk now? Start studying already? He let out a breath he didn’t now he’d been holding, fearing the upcoming months. It was going to be so damn awkward. 

Newt was just about to get caught up in a spiral of worries and stress and anxiety, when he remembered that he needed to pick that thing up. 

He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder and cocked his head to the side. “Text me okay? I gotta run.”

Thomas sighed and nodded, sending him one last annoyed look. “Sure.”

Newt walked out of the classroom and shook his head. God. This was certainly going to be absolutely magnificent. A life changing experience. For sure. 

. . .

 _Fucking asshole_. 

-

#### Wednesday - September 5th

Thomas hadn’t texted him like he had told him. 

And it was annoying as hell.

It was not like Newt wanted to tutor the brunet, but he had to do it until he wasn’t failing anymore, so he rather started soon. 

But _of course_ , Thomas wouldn’t text. He could’ve expected it. But he had the slight hope that his first impression of Thomas was wrong and that he was actually a nice person who was motivated and who could be decent to another human being. 

Apparently not. 

Okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated. He just didn’t text. But it still bugged Newt and at 11:00 on Wednesday, he decided that he’d had enough of the waiting. 

\- Newt- 11:01 AM: Let’s meet today at the library at 3?

He shoved his phone back into his pocket. That message wasn't hostile or anything, right? It was an attempt at a nice conversation. He blew a breath out through his nose and cursed his teacher again. What did he do wrong to deserve this? He didn’t want to be stuck up with Thomas for a couple of months. That guy was a dick and selfish and egocentric and probably hadn’t for a second thought that this was hell for Newt, too. 

He bit his lip and focused back on the teacher again, who was telling a story about the romans and how they fought in the arena. 

Newt kind of liked history. Well, he liked the stories. He hated all the year numbers and notes he had to remember. It was so much. And hard. And mostly it just stressed him the fuck out, because he couldn’t remember a thing when he had a test. So aside from the stories, he actually hated history.

But thankfully, the lesson passed pretty quickly due to Teresa and Sonya suggesting that they’d watch a part of _The Gladiator_ movie.

Thomas still hadn’t responded to his text when it was lunchtime, and Newt was getting pretty annoyed. Was he purposely ignoring him? 

Just when he was about to complain to Minho about it, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He probably grabbed it faster than was necessary, but for some reason he really wanted to know what Thomas had said. He was… excited? No, no he was just curious. 

_Curious_. 

His stomach dropped a little though when he read the message. 

\- Thomas- 12:17 PM: ok

Newt gritted his teeth. He hated people who responded with ok. He hated them. 

He would really like to punch Thomas right now. 

Minho, who was sitting next to him, patted him on the back. “Whoa man, you okay? You seem mad.”

Newt huffed and buried his head in his hands. “I’m fine, just, I have to tutor this guy for French, and he’s a real dick.”

“Hm, sounds interesting.”

“Oh, shut _up_ , it’s not like that.”

Minho smirked at him. “That’s how you started with Alby too, hon.”

Newt groaned. That was true. It started pretty similarly actually. Alby had become his lab partner two years ago, and Newt hated the guy at first, but they ended up in the same bed and disgustingly in love. It didn’t work out though, because after a few months on cloud nine, Newt became annoyed with every little thing Alby did, and the dark-skinned boy had the same struggle with him. So they broke up. 

Newt hadn’t been really heartbroken about it.

“Okay, true, but trust me, that won’t happen with this guy. He’s… he’s….” Newt snapped with his finger to let the word magically appear in his head. “Annoying.” He finished lamely, not meeting Minho’s eye. 

The Asian grinned at him. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll find him sooooo _annoying._ ” He failed at an attempt at a British accent and Newt smacked him on the shoulder. Minho barked a laugh and then threw his hands up in defeat. 

“Okay okay, I won’t tease you about it alright? Are you seeing him today?”

Newt sighed and played with his pen. “Yeah, I have to meet him at 3 in the library.”

Minho sent him a wink. “If I need to beat him up because he’s an asshole, just give me a call.”

Newt smiled a little at the thought. “Please retract the offer or I’ll might really take up on it.”

The bell rang and Newt stood up to go to his next class. Minho slung an arm around his shoulder. “Dude, don’t worry, I’m sure he’s less worse than you think.”

Newt shook his head and sighed, not feeling any hope for that to happen. But he wanted it to be true, to at least make these next months a little more bearable. “Yeah, I hope so.”

-

Newt hated being late. 

Newt hated people who were late.

Newt also kind of hated Thomas.

So naturally, he thought Thomas was a person who’d be late. Because. Well. It was Thomas. 

Therefore, when Newt walked into the library at 3:07, seven minutes later than they’d agreed on and it _pained_ Newt to do it, he was pretty much in shock when he saw a brown haired boy sitting at a table. And said boy was looking _very_ pissed off.

Newt swallowed down the embarrassment and the guilty feeling he got. He’d thought Thomas would be late so _he_ came late, and now Thomas was actually waiting for _him_. And he hated it. 

God, he hated a lot of things these days. 

He readjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder, took a deep breath and walked to where Thomas was sitting, violently scratching with his pen on a paper with his mouth in a thin line. 

When he stood in front of the table, Thomas finally looked up. 

“Didn’t expect you to be a person who’d be late, _Newton_.” He bit the name out like it was poison on his tongue and it hit Newt like a punch in the gut. Because as much as he didn’t like Thomas, he didn’t want to make him mad at him. 

Even though he probably already was before any of this happened. 

“Don’t call me that.” He said with a stern voice, because _no_. Thomas (and no one else, really) was allowed to call him that. Then he softened his tone. “And, yeah, I know, I’m sorry, I uhm...-”

“Don’t.” Thomas said harshly, his tone almost disappointed. Then he sighed and continued drawing on his paper, but this time a little less harsh. “I just, I hate it when people are late. But I shouldn’t get so worked up over it.”

Newt’s eyes widened and he had to bit his lip to keep him from barking out ‘what?!’ because honestly, _what?_ Thomas hated that too? Oh. That was something he didn’t expect. 

_They had something in common, yay! Party!_

Thomas didn’t look up at him though, so he decided just to sit down next to the brunette and made sure he kept his distance.

“It’s fine.” He muttered and, okay, he deserved the dirty look Thomas sent him, because Newt was the one who should apologize. 

When he didn’t say anything more, Thomas scoffed and shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

_Well, so much for friendly banter._

Newt decided not to dwell on it and pulled the books out of his bag, laying them down in front of them. He hadn’t looked at them at all yet, but he was pretty good at French, so it shouldn’t be a problem. 

When Thomas didn’t say or do anything that looked like he wanted to start, Newt turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “So, what don’t you understand?”

Thomas sighed and watched him from under his long dark lashes, and Newt absolutely didn’t want to think about them, but to be fair, they _were_ really long. And they had this nice curve. It perfectly fitted with the whole puppy look the boy had going on.

“Everything.” 

Newt scoffed, completely forgetting everything about nice eyelashes when he heard that voice again. “Well, then you’re even more stupid than I thought.” 

Thomas slowly turned to the side with raised eyebrows like he didn’t believe Newt had just said that. Then he bit his lip, as if he were trying to keep in a comment and sighed again. “The grammar.”

Newt rolled his eyes and cocked his head in impatience. 

Thomas shot him a glare and raised his eyebrows. “Honestly, everything about the grammar.”

Newt closed his eyes as an attempt to stay patient and then he heard Thomas groan. “I suppose we could… start with the tenses.”

Okay, that was a beginning. 

Newt faked a smile in the most obvious way possible. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

Thomas looked at him with a look that clearly said fuck off, but Newt wasn’t going to let this boy rule over him. He gestured to the books and Thomas finally straightened up, even though he still didn’t look so excited. 

Well for that, Newt couldn’t blame him. 

“Alright, you know how the _present_ works?” He opened the books in front of him and flipped to the right page, grabbing a pencil and a notebook to write things down. 

Thomas squinted and peered into his books, seeming to think hard. After a few beats of silence, he spoke up again. “Is that like _je suis_ and shit?”

Newt resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. “Yep, that’s it. Do you know those?”

Thomas nodded. “Yeah.”

He sighed in relief. That was something. “Do you know how to translate things like ‘she eats’?”

He looked to the side expectantly, having a little hope, but it burned out when Thomas just stared at him like he was an alien. “I- uh...”

“Great.” He muttered under his breath and Thomas glared at him. 

“Shut up. _You’re_ supposed to tutor _me_ , so don’t go whining when I don’t understand shit.”

Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise. And then he shrugged, because yeah, Thomas had a point. “You’re right. But _I’m_ supposed to tutor _you_ , so you don’t get to act like a brat and make my time miserable.”

Thomas squinted at him and then pursed his lips. “Fine.” He spat out, focusing on the books again. 

“Then we’re clear.”

It was silent for a few seconds and then Thomas turned to him with and annoyed look on his face. “Well, are you going to do something or do you just want to stare at me all day?”

Newt blinked and then realized that he’d indeed been staring, and he fought off his blush while turning to the books. “Okay, so the present is the tense…”

-

15 minutes later, Newt had explained the basics of the present and, not to his surprise, Thomas hadn’t really been paying attention. But on the brighter side, he had been writing a few things down and had given one or two right answers. Baby steps, he kept telling himself. 

Suddenly, Thomas looked at his watch, (a Rolex, seriously?! A Rolex. Like, how. What. Where does a seventeen year old get a fucking Rolex of 7000 dollars?) and put his own books in his bag, apparently announcing with that that he was about to leave. 

Newt frowned. “What are you doing?”

Thomas sarcastically raised an eyebrow. “I’m asking you to marry me, obviously.” 

When Newt shot him a look, the brunette rolled his eyes. “I got practice in ten, I’m leaving”

Uh, what? They’d only been here for like 20 minutes, they weren’t done yet.

“No, you’re not.”

Thomas raised his eyebrows and stood up. “Yes I am.” 

“Seriously? After 20 bloody minutes?”

“Yes, Newton, after twenty bloody minutes.” 

Newt gritted his teeth because this _dick_ , called him by his real name, was spotting with his accent and was a fucking brat who suddenly left without any consultation whether it was okay or not. 

And he was not going to let himself be treated like that. 

“I told you not to call me that again. And listen to me, _Thomas_.” He bit out, standing up and pointing at the boy who was looking at him unimpressed. “I’d prefer that you’d tell me you need to leave next time beforehand, so that I don’t end up wasting my time on you and a useless lesson.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever dude.”

Newt opened his mouth but no words came and instead he found himself fighting back the urge to slap Thomas. _That bloody fucking annoying…_

Thomas gave him one last scoff and then walked off, leaving Newt to stand there wordlessly. After a few meters he turned around again and he had this cold, almost disappointed look in his eyes.

“Oh and a tip for the next time: loosen up a bit. You’re acting like you’ve got a stick up your ass.”

Okay, what? That he was acting like he got a stick up his ass was all Thomas’ fault. If he wouldn’t be so indifferent and stupid, he’d act a lot nicer.

He didn’t say it though, because he knew he wouldn’t gain anything from it. So instead, he crossed his arms and tilted his head. “I’ll shove a stick up your ass if you keep going like this.” 

Suddenly this mischievous glint washed over Thomas’ face as a little smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “Kinky.” 

That was all he said before walking off and leaving Newt at the table, a little more surprised and disgusted than he wanted to admit. 

-

“Mom, I’m home!!”

Newt came into the living room and threw his bag on the couch, falling onto it, groaning into a pillow. 

Thomas. 

What a horrible person. 

How was he ever going to survive these upcoming months? 

Suddenly, his dog, a Labrador he got two years ago as a therapy dog, came to him, waggling her tail and sniffing his hand. He slowly got up and rubbed her head as a greeting. “Hey Nanc, how ya doin’?” The dog licked his hand in response and Newt couldn’t help but giggle. 

Nancy nudged his leg and looked up expectantly at him. Newt sighed. That dog was trained to sense discomfort or stress, so of course she’d notice something was up. He slid off the couch and sat down on the floor, Sasha immediately crawling onto his lap. 

“I guess I’ll tell you.” He sighed while stroking her head. “I have to tutor this guy for French. And he’s a dick. Seriously. He’s mean, and annoying, and stupid, and thinks he’s above me, and he doesn’t pay any attention to what I try to explain, but for some reason I just, I don’t know. I want him to like me. Or to at least be nice to me, or whatever. I dunno actually, he bugs me.”

Nancy looked up at him with her brown eyes and tried to lick his face. Newt barked a laugh. “You think I should just lick his face huh? Cuz that’s obviously the solution everything.” 

His dog let out a small whine and he chuckled. It was nice to have someone listen to his problems, even when that someone was a dog. 

After five minutes of mulling over Thomas and the whole situation, his phone buzzed. He picked it up, somehow hoping that it was the brunette with a suggestion for a next meeting. It was Minho instead.

\- Minho- 4:03 PM: duuuuude how was it

He rolled his eyes because _of course_ Minho would want all the details. 

\- Newt- 4:04 PM: Next time I’m calling you to beat his ass. 

\- Minho- 4:04 PM: awww was it that bad

\- Newt- 4:05 PM: Yeah it was actually, he really is a piece of work

\- Minho- 4:05 PM: uhuuuuuuu suuuuuureeee ;))))))))

\- Newt- 4:05 PM: Shut up

\- Minho- 4:05 PM: whatever you say lovebird

\- Minho- 4:05 PM: oh shit I gotta go I got practice bye 

Newt huffed and put the phone next to him on the couch. Minho was definitely going to tease him about it until forever. 

Fuck his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooo
> 
> So, that was it. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. Please let me know what you think, since I'm kind of insecure about this (I just think you guys will think it's boring or anything like that and ajskjsajahskj)
> 
> I hope you have a great day <3
> 
> Oh and updates will probably every Friday ;)


	2. How am I going to survive this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas is still a dick, and Minho is too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably bad cuz I wrote it like a month ago but I didn't feel like rewriting the whole thing but enjoy anyways <3

#### Friday – September 21st 

Newt obviously didn’t expect Thomas to text him right after their first study session (or whatever he wanted to call it) The guy had a life too and wasn’t that fond of Newt, so he understood. 

They’d seen each other a few times when they had class together. Thomas had completely ignored him and Newt had done so too, only catching his eyes once and quickly looking away again. He didn’t feel any need to change that.

But when it was Friday and Newt still hadn’t heard from him for a next meeting, he got pretty annoyed with it. Because if you want to tutor someone properly, it’s best to see them at least 2 times a week, and today was the last chance because there was no way in hell he’d keep up with that guy on the weekends. 

So Friday at 1:03 PM, right after he saw Thomas in the hallway cracking up about some joke with Frypan, he snapped. 

\- Newt- 1:03 PM: Hey

Okay, so maybe that sounded a bit pathetic, but _hey_ , it was an attempt at being nice. 

Thomas, to his surprise, responded almost immediately.

\- Thomas- 1:04 PM: hey?

Newt huffed out a laugh because yeah, he’d be confused too. 

\- Newt- 1:04 PM: Lets meet again today

Newt could see Thomas at the end of the hallway frowning at his phone and rolling his eyes, and the want to attempt at being nice flew away from him. 

\- Thomas- 1:05 PM: uh yeah sure

When nothing else came, Newt gritted his teeth. 

_God, some kind of cooperation would be great._

\- Newt- 1:05 PM: At what time?

\- Thomas- 1:06 PM: uh im free at two 

\- Newt- 1:06 PM: So quarter past? And just in the library again?

\- Thomas- 1:06 PM: yeah whatever newton

Newt gritted his teeth

\- Newt- 1:06 PM: Fuck you

Gally, who dropped down next to him, worriedly looked over his shoulder. “Dude, you okay?”

Newt turned to the boy who was looking at him with a concerned look and then decided that telling someone wouldn’t be that bad. He sighed. “Okay, so do you know Thomas?”

Gally raised his eyebrows. “Uh yeah, everyone does. We’re kind of friends actually. What’s up with him?”

Newt groaned and fell forward on the table, burying his head in his arms. “Yeah, well, I have to tutor him. And he’s such a douchebag.”

Gally squinted for a second and then, he burst out laughing. 

Newt frowned. “Dude, what’s so funny?”

Gally opened his mouth to say something, when their teacher interrupted them. “Isaacs and Paulsen, would you mind sharing your fun with the class?”

Newt shook his head furiously. “No ma’am, were good.”

“Good, then now please shut up so that we can start.”

Newt nodded and shot Gally one last look, who was shaking his head with a smile. 

_What the hell was that about?_

20 minutes later, he got another text from Thomas.

Thomas- 1:31 PM: you planning on being late again?

He didn’t respond.

-

Exactly at 2:15 PM, Newt walked into the library, not wanting to risk being late again. But when he looked around, Thomas wasn’t there yet. 

_I’m sure he’ll be here right away. He hates being late too._

-

2:22 PM, _seven minutes_ later than they’d agreed on, Thomas came strolling into the library, looking very pleased with himself. His hair was a mess and looked fluffy, like it just dried up and he was wearing black jeans with a long sleeved grey t-shirt. Newt was surprised about that, because it was begin September and it was hot. Why the hell was he wearing long sleeves?

And also, why the hell was he thinking about what Thomas was wearing?!

He quickly shook his head and focused on the boy who walked closer to the table. He came to a stop in front of Newt and didn’t say a word. He just had this fucking smile on his face and it made Newt incredibly angry. 

“Didn’t expect you to be here yet, Newton.”

Newt gritted his teeth and Thomas sat down next to him, still with that smug smirk on his face and Newt wanted to slap him. 

“Did you seriously just come late to annoy me?”

Thomas smiled at him way to brightly. “Yes.”

Newt bit his lip, shook his head and opened the books. “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” 

Thomas blinked innocently. “These lessons? No. Annoying you? _Yes_.”

He was not going to let himself be treated like this. Not. Happening. “I hate you.”

Okay, so maybe that was a little lame.

The brunette’s face suddenly got washed over with a cold expression, and Newt almost flinched at the change of atmosphere. “The feeling’s mutual.”

He made his hands into fists and shook his head. Well, at least that was clear. He wanted to say something. A smart remark, or just something that’d annoy Thomas. But getting into a fight wouldn’t help with anything, so he forced himself to stay calm. 

“Do you remember everything from last time?”

Thomas rolled his eyes and looked very uninterested. “Probably.”

Newt sighed and grabbed a sheet out of his bag with about a 100 sentences to practice the present. “Alright, you don’t have to make these all at once, but just make a few everyday and you’ll be fine.”

Thomas raised his eyebrows and probably wanted to say something, but Newt cut him off before he could. “Also,” he pulled another stack of papers out of his bag, “I want you to study these verbs. I’d say, two weeks, and then you have to know them all.”

Maybe it was a little mean (it were 200 verbs, so that’d take a lot of time to get them in your head), but Thomas deserved it. 

The brunette accepted the papers he was given and he looked at them with wide eyes while flipping through them. When he was done, he stared up at Newt and looked furious. “Are you kidding me? This is too much!”

Newt smiled at him sweetly. “Aw, I’m sure you can handle it.”

Thomas opened his mouth and then closed it again, breathing out through his nose. “Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

Now that was something Newt could agree on. “Yeah, let’s.” He bit out, and Thomas gave him one more dirty look before opening his books. 

Newt closed his eyes for a second and exhaled through his nose. Just when he felt ready again, he found Thomas staring at him like he was crazy. He shot a glare in response and at that, Thomas rolled his eyes arrogantly. 

Clenching and unclenching his jaw to get rid of the anger, he straightened up and started explaining the next part of the present, hoping that the hour would pass very quickly.

“So, if words end on –ir, like _choisir_ , you add –is when you use _je_ …”

-

45 minutes later, Thomas still didn’t understand anything. He also didn’t pay attention at all and was sitting in the chair like a sack of potatoes, constantly drumming his fingers on the table and bouncing his feet. It drove Newt a little crazy. 

“But when do you add –is and when do you add –it then?”

Newt sighed. He had this slight suspicion that Thomas was just doing this on purpose, only to annoy him more.

“I told you three times before, -is with _tu_ or _je_ , and –it when it’s _elle, il_ or _on_.”

The brunette sighed. “God, I’ll never be able to do this. And your explanation is horrible.”

“Well, if you maybe just _did_ something, or started paying _attention_ , it would be less hard.”

Thomas squinted and opened his mouth, probably to give a snarky remark, but he was suddenly interrupted by a voice Newt knew all too well. 

“Hey Newt!”

They looked up in unison. 

“Hey!” Newt called in surprise, at the same time Thomas said “Minho!”

Minho walked closer to the table and cocked his head. “Thomas?”

Newt frowned. “Minho?”

Thomas turned to him. “Newt?”

Newt frowned even more and turned to the brunette. “Thomas?” 

_Huh?_

After staring at each other for a few seconds, suddenly Minho burst out laughing. Both boys looked at him with raised eyebrows and Newt really didn’t understand anything anymore. How did Minho know Thomas- or Thomas Minho, and why the hell was he laughing?

Thomas looked just as confused though; he was staring at the guy like he grew a second head. 

Minho finally got his laughing under control again and wiped his imaginary tears. He pointed between Newt and Thomas with a finger. 

“You are his tutor?” He let out a few chuckles again and then clapped his hands together. “God, this is hilarious, I should’ve connected the dots.”

“Care to explain what’s going on?” Thomas asked accusatory.

Minho shook his head with a smile and then put his arms on the table, leaning forward a little. He focused on Thomas and pointed at Newt with one finger, still smiling. “So this is the arrogant tutor who is such a fucking asshole?”

Newt’s eyes widened. What?! Had Thomas been talking about him? To his _best friend_? What a dick. And he was not arrogant. _Or_ an asshole.

Then Minho turned to him and he felt a weird surge of panic go through his stomach. He already knew what was about to come and he opened his mouth to say something-

“And this is the guy you had to tutor who was such an annoying douchebag and a dick?”

 _Oops_.

He closed his mouth again when he realized he had not much to say to that, because yeah, it was true. He felt Thomas’ gaze on his face and he’d give a million bucks if he’d never had to meet those eyes again. 

Though the eyes kept pricking, so eventually he gave in and swallowed, carefully peering at the brunette next to him. He was staring back with the same amount of anger mixed with humiliation. After a second, it became too much. He quickly averted his eyes and glanced back to Minho, who was still watching them with a grin.

“Wait, how do _you_ guys know each other?” Thomas suddenly asked, sounding very confused. 

Newt raised his eyebrows and he was pretty sure they reached his hairline. Excuse _him_?

“We’ve been best friends since we were twelve. How do _you_ know each other?” He turned to Thomas and crossed his arms, feeling the urge to prove that he had a better friendship with Minho for some reason. 

Thomas squinted and looked between Minho and him. His gaze settled on Newt and he crossed his arms as well, his posture defensive. “We’re on the team together.”

Oh

God, he should’ve known. Thomas who had to leave for practice, for gods sake, in combination with those muscles? Of course he played football. 

He tilted his head. “ _Oh_.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and with every second Newt felt the anger inside of him flare up. He didn’t even know why he was so angry. It was just Thomas as a whole. The stupid hair and long sleeves and the way he sat uninterested at the table and the way he didn’t understand a thing and the stupid way of talking. He was insufferable. 

And it annoyed Newt.

And he knew that that irritation, that was building inside of him like a tidal wave, had to come out at some point. He wondered when that would happen. And _what_ would happen when it did. 

Thomas would probably hate him more than he already did and then go to Mr. Charron to complain that they couldn’t work together anymore and then it would be all over.

Huh, maybe he should get mad. It would get him out of this shit. 

But then he’d probably get his ass kicked by Charron and he’d have to go to detention, so he wasn’t really looking forward to that either.

“Whoa dudes, calm down. You two look like you want to murder each other.”

Newt snapped out of his spiral of frustration and anger and turned to Minho again, who was half smiling at them, like he knew something they didn’t. 

He raised an eyebrow at the Asian. “What are you even doing here?”

Minho put his hands on his hips. “Well, I thought I’d ask you to hang out, but since you’re _busy_ , I guess we’ll do it another time.”

Newt sighed and then scoffed fondly. Minho may be a dick sometimes, but he was also the sweetest and best friend he could ever wish for. He gestured to Thomas, a bored look on his face. “Yeah, as you can see I don’t have the time now, but maybe tomorrow?”

Minho’s face lit up like a little kid that got a treat. “Yes! I’ll text you.”

Newt nodded and then Minho walked off, saying his goodbyes to him and Thomas. “Have fun boys.” He winked, and Newt wondered if more people went so fast from wanting to hug someone to wanting to murder someone. 

They both watched as Minho walked out of the library, greeting everyone on his way like the popular guy he was, and when he was out of sight, Thomas immediately turned to him. 

“You complained about me?”

Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned his whole body to Thomas. “What, you complained about _me_?!”

“Yes.”

Newt scoffed. “Well, I did too.”

Thomas seemed really offended by that. He swallowed once and then shook his head. “Whatever, I’m done. I’ll see you another time.”

Uh what? He couldn’t just leave. Not when they still had stuff to do- okay maybe they didn’t really have anything left for today, but still. 

“What, you think you can just leave?”

Thomas put his books in his backpack and sent him an annoyed look. “Probably not, judging by your reaction, but I’m not feeling it anymore so I don’t really care.”

Newt spluttered and tried to think of something in response. Just one good line he could say that would make Thomas shut up, god, he’d kill for that. Instead he just opened his mouth, with nothing coming out of it. 

“Oh don’t go all stressed out, you know you’re done with me too, so we better stop now before we actually kill each other.”

Newt raised his eyebrows, opening his mouth, ready to say whatever would make that stupid boy stay… and then exhaled, sagging back in his chair. Thomas might have a small point. A _small_ one. 

But it was there. 

He was indeed very done with Thomas right now and he didn’t think he could be in the same room with that guy for another 5 minutes without strangling him. 

Thomas seemed way too content with his defeat and smiled coldly at him. “That’s what I thought.” He slung the backpack over his shoulder. “Bye.”

Newt raised an annoyed eyebrow at him. “Don’t forget to study the verbs and practice those sentences!”

The brunette didn’t look back once, nor did he say anything. 

It left Newt biting his lip in annoyance. 

-

#### Saturday - September 22nd

“So, you and Thomas huh?”

“Shut up Minho.” Newt breathed while trying to kill some people on the screen, tongue peeking out of his mouth in concentration. 

“I’m just saying. I mean, he’s _hot_. I wouldn’t blame you.” Minho grinned at him and that was Newt’s breaking point. 

He paused the game and turned to Minho, who frowned in surprise. 

“Listen, I get that this must be hilarious for you,” Minho smiled as a confirmation. “But,” Newt held up a finger, “this is not the same as with Alby. I swear. This guy is honestly one of the worst people I’ve ever met.”

Minho smiled smirked knowingly and Newt groaned in frustration, falling back on the bed and covering his face with his hands. 

“It’s not like that!”

Minho chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. “Dude, I’m just messin’ with ya. It’s fun to see you get so worked up over it.”

Newt sent him a glare, because _seriously_?! That was just childish. And definitely something he’d do to Minho too. But that wasn’t the point now. 

“Where did you get the idea he’s so horrible anyways? He’s a really nice guy, honestly.”

At that, Newt let out a high-pitched chuckle. “A nice guy? He’s like Satan dressed as a teenage boy.”

The boy next to him burst out in laughter. “Dude, he’s like a puppy. Nothing like Satan. Just really sweet.”

Newt huffed. Yeah right. A puppy, his ass. That guy was horrible, and maybe he looked like a puppy, his personality definitely didn’t match. 

“Well he may be nice to you, but to me he’s an ass.”

Minho smirked and nudged his shoulder. “Maybe he’s just frustrated by you. _Sexually_.”

He chocked on his own spit. “I hate you.” He glared at Minho, who just kept on grinning. “I’m begging you; please stop. I swear I’ll do anything but don’t make those comments ‘cause the thought makes me want to barf.”

It was true. Look, Thomas was hot and all, so perfect material for a messy hookup, but once he knew the guy’s personality, he couldn’t imagine being with the guy in a friendly way. Ever. 

Minho scoffed but then smiled. “Okay dude, whatever you say. But I can’t promise I’ll stop.”

Newt groaned again. “Come ooooonnn.”

Minho winked at him. “Sorry hon, it’s way too fun to stop.”

Newt made a fake sobbing sound and pressed play again. “You’re the worst.”

The boy next to him raised his eyebrows suggestively. “I thought Thomas was?”

“Shut up.” Newt shoved Minho, who was laughing loudly and he just buried his head in his hands. 

He hated his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankyou for reading! Next chapter will probably be up in a few days xx meg


	3. What the hell I'm in hell (or maybe not?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt screws up just a little, but thankfully Thomas is forgiving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY for the late chapter; had a few parties and a lot of stuff to do for school so I didn't have a lot of time to write, but it's here now so enjoy!! xx meg
> 
> TW: brief description of the start of a panic attack. Be safe! x

#### Tuesday – 25 September

Newt despised Math. It was hard and he just didn’t _understand_ it. 

What made him hate it even more, was Thomas, who was goofing around the whole fucking time with Brenda, making it impossible for him to concentrate.

He’d sent him a few annoyed looks, but either the brunet hadn’t seen it or had just purposely ignored it, because he kept going like nothing happened. 

So yeah, he’d almost reached his limit with Thomas before their lesson had even started. 

Thomas had made it a habit not to text him. Newt didn’t know why _he_ never proposed something, but apparently the brunet just thought that Newt could do it all the time, thus never initiating something. 

It made Newt mad. 

\- Newt- 12:08 PM: Library at 1?

\- Thomas- 12:14 PM: im free at 2

Goddammit, did he have to wait an hour for that guy then?

\- Newt- 12:16 PM: Fine, 2 then. Don’t be late

\- Thomas- 12:16 PM: wouldnt dream of it newton

He took a deep breath and forced himself not to walk up to the guy sitting across the cafeteria, who was looking at his phone with an annoyed look. 

_Deep breaths._

-

Neither of them, for a change, were late. Thomas walked into the library approximately 30 seconds after Newt did. At least that was something they didn’t have to bicker about. 

Thomas sat down next to him and greeted him grumpily. Newt didn’t feel any need to play nice either, so he went straight to the point after he’d grabbed his books. 

“So, show me your exercises.”

He got a weird look and a huff in response, and then a crumpled paper was slammed on the table, shoved in front of him. 

Newt picked it up curiously and sent Thomas a wary look. Had he actually made them? Whoa. That was something he didn’t expect. He immediately felt like a weight was lifted off his stomach.

When he flipped through the pages though, the boulder came crashing back down, settling uneasy in his stomach. It made him a little nauseous. 

Newt held the papers up and raised an eyebrow at Thomas. “What’s this?”

“A paper.” The brunet responded in a voice that basically said _don’t you fucking have eyes idiot_.

Anger came up and settled in his chest, wanting to escape. It was different from the times before. Then, it had just been annoyance. This was something else. 

“Did you at least do something about this?” He waved the papers around, a little more rough than necessary. 

Thomas raised his eyebrows and an extremely content look settled on his face. “Nope.” He answered, popping the P.

Newt clenched his jaw and exhaled shakily. He couldn’t stand this. That this guy was uninterested? He could somewhat deal. But that he didn’t even do a shit to get better? That was just messed up. And stupid. So, damn, _stupid_. Especially when it meant that Newt was his tutor. Because he wasn’t one to be messed with like this. Thomas was just making fun of him in some crazy way. And he wasn’t going to let that happen. 

“Alright, the words, you probably did study those right? _Manger_.” He turned to Thomas, letting the ice seep into his tone. 

Thomas frowned. “What?”

“The translation of _manger_.”

Thomas huffed, but stayed silent. 

Newt rolled his eyes and felt his patience growing thinner and thinner. “It’s literally the first word on the list.”

When he didn’t get any response whatsoever, he asked another one. He didn’t even know why, but he was probably just denying that Thomas was actually that bad. He wanted to have hope. 

“ _Aller_?”

Thomas swallowed and blinked lazily, but didn’t seem apologetic in any way. 

Newt licked his lips and flared his nostrils, turning his body a little more to Thomas.

“Did you study any of these? At all?” He pointed at the list with words and raised an eyebrow, trying to hide the anger that was coursing through his veins. When he heard his own voice though, he knew he failed. 

“No.”

He inhaled. “Why not?”

Thomas made a pouty face and shrugged. “Didn’t feel like it.”

And that was the last straw. It was like a dam broke inside of him and the anger flooded his whole body, coursing through his veins and punching his stomach. He couldn’t keep calm anymore. All the times he’d bit back on insults and comments; he didn’t have the strength for it anymore. This was it. 

He turned to Thomas and slammed on the table. “Oh, you asshole! Fuck you and your stupid behavior. I don’t know what you want to achieve with this attitude, but it’s not getting you anywhere!”

A few heads turned to them, surprised by the loud voice in the quiet area, but Newt couldn’t care less. He had more to say. 

“You really want me to spell it out for ya? I hate you, and you hate me. And that’s _fine_ ; people don’t always have to like each other. But I have to tutor you until you’re stupid ass stops failing, so I suggest you pick your lame self up and start _doing_ something for a change!” He yelled, and Thomas visibly recoiled. 

He slammed the table again and threw the stack of papers in Thomas’ face. “You’re a fucking waste of space, Thomas.”

Silence.

And then he swallowed, realizing what he’d just said. Where the _hell_ did those words come from? He ignored the sour taste in his mouth and the way his chest felt uncomfortably tight. Thomas was looking at him with wide eyes, looking like a kicked puppy. 

Newt inhaled shakily, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. It only got bigger. He could still hear the words ring in his ears, not just from mere seconds ago, but from two years back, spat in his face and leaving him utterly desperate. 

And he felt _sorry_. 

Suddenly, the room got too tight and he needed to get _out_. He scrambled to his feet, put the books messily in his backpack and stole one last glance at Thomas. The brunette was looking at him with wide, hurtful eyes, and his mouth a bit open. But he was also studying his face, almost curiously, looking for something. 

It got too much and Newt looked away again, feeling the piercing gaze still on his face. 

“I, uh- I’m sorry.” He hated the way his voice sounded so brittle. 

Thomas brow moved just a little.

His heart started beating faster and he shoved the chair away, ready to run out of the library. 

“No! Wait, I-” He heard the voice somewhere behind him, but Newt shook his head and stormed out of the building. 

Once he was outside, he leaned with his back against the wall, slamming his head against it a few times. 

_Breathe_.

 _Breathe_. 

“It’s not happing again. He isn’t here. You’re okay.” He muttered to himself, probably looking like an idiot, but he couldn’t care less. Slowly he felt his heart calming down and he closed his eyes just for a second. 

He let out a long breath when he opened them again, and he felt his chest loosening a bit. He swallowed, the lump getting smaller and smaller, and Newt kept standing there, just breathing, until it was completely gone. 

It had just been replaced with a sick, guilty feeling. 

He once swore to himself that he’d never say any of those words to anyone, considering how fucked up he’d felt when someone told him that. How bad they may be, never tell them they’re a waste of space. He huffed humorlessly. He’d failed. 

Newt walked to his car and just drove away, not bothering to go in there again. Thomas probably hated him and the lessons were over. It was better like this. 

But then why did he feel a little hollow?

-

The next day passed in a blur. He’d slept most of the guiltiness off, now he only had a weird twirl in his stomach when he thought about what happened yesterday. He was still mad at Thomas though, for just being a stupid asshole, and not even looking at him in class. 

But he understood. 

The guy wanted nothing to do with him, and Newt didn’t want that either. 

-

The day after that was almost back to normal again. Newt still thought about it, especially when he’d met Thomas’ eyes in Biology. But when the boy had quickly averted his gaze, Newt knew it was done. And that was okay. He still felt the need somewhere to apologize, but he knew that was never going to happen, so he decided to just let it go. 

It worked.

-

#### Friday – September 28th

Newt loved surprises. Even the smallest things made him incredibly happy. Someone getting food for him, sending him a fun text or dm’ing him a meme, he loved it. 

He didn’t, definitely most bloody _didn’t_ , like this surprise. 

\- Thomas- 9:41 AM: wanna meet at 2? same place?

He probably stared at the text with wide eyes a little too long. He didn’t know what to do, or think for that matter. Just as he was over the whole incident and didn’t think about the boy anymore, and now he wanted to meet up? What the hell was that about?

And more importantly; what on earth did he have to respond? 

_Yes, gladly, I would love to work together with you again after Tuesday, you probably do too?_

_No, I hate you and I want nothing to do with you so leave me the fuck alone and delete my number?_

Newt gritted his teeth and thought it over for a moment. On one hand, he really wanted to be done with Thomas. Mr. Charron would be mad, but at least it meant he never had to talk to the boy again, which was something he really wanted, because Thomas was a dick. 

But then an image of Thomas flashed through his mind, looking up at him with those stupid puppy eyes and he knew that he was fucked. They at least had to talk this out. 

So, with anger already bubbling up in him again, he replied. 

\- Newt- 9:44 AM: fine

-

He didn’t really know why he was nervous. But he couldn’t help it. The nerves shot through his body and he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, tapping his foot on the ground. 

It was crazy. Why the hell was he even doing this? Thomas was probably just going to yell at him for being such a horrible tutor. Maybe he even brought a few people to help beat him up. But the text hadn’t really sounded hostile right? But it was Thomas; it wouldn’t surprise him. He kinda deserved it.

But Newt was still mad at him. For whatever reason.

He was sitting at the same spot they always sat, and he was a little early, so he didn’t blame Thomas for not being there yet. 

Though, after 2 minutes, said boy came walking in, looking… nervous? He was wearing light blue jeans and an olive green v-neck shirt that made him look very tanned and muscly. Overall, he looked _good_ , okay? He was man enough to admit that. 

Newt saw him swallowing a few times and licking his lips, nervously looking around. When he’d found Newt, he visibly took a breath and started walking towards him. When he arrived, he sat down wordlessly, grabbing the books and sheets out of his bag. 

After exhaling deeply, he finally turned to Newt. “Hey.”

_Well, that was anticlimactic._

Newt blinked. “Hey.”

Thomas laid the papers with exercises in front of him and focused on that, not making eye contact with Newt. 

“I thought about what you said,” he started in a quiet but determined voice.

Newt raised an eyebrow at him. _And?_

Thomas glanced to the side and sighed. “I’m… Here” He shoved the papers in front of Newt, who tilted his head curiously. 

He raised both eyebrows at Thomas now, and the brunette rolled his eyes. “Don’t make me say it.”

_I’m sorry._

Newt almost let out a laugh. It couldn’t be that Thomas was apologizing, right?

He picked up the papers, very curious about what could possibly be in there, flipped through them and… wow. 

Huh.

Every single sentence was filled in. Somewhere along the page were notes, question marks and exclamation points scribbled in red in a messy handwriting. 

He went to the rest of the pages and was met with the same sight. 

Whoa. 

Had Thomas really been making all these exercises? It was a _lot_. Must’ve taken hours, especially when you sucked at French.

He glanced at Thomas, who was licking his lips nervously, his eyes focused on Newt’s hands flipping through the pages. He looked… small. Vulnerable. 

And it did something to Newt; a weird tug in his heart. Thomas met his eyes, and Newt was weighing out his pros and con’s. He could just hand the papers back and apologize for yesterday, then walk away, not having to communicate with this guy ever again. 

But this was obviously a peace offering, even if Thomas hadn’t voiced it that way. So should he agree to it and tutor this hateful guy for the next few months, possibly ruining his happiness?

On paper it was very clear what the best option was. 

But, deep inside, he already knew what he was going to say. 

He sighed, nodded slowly and felt a weight being lifted off his stomach, one he didn’t even know was there. 

“Okay.”

Thomas’ eyes widened. “Wh- really?” his voice was still quiet, but there was an uplifting undertone to it. Newt didn’t know whether it made him angry or happy. 

He closed his eyes for a second, already regretting his decision. “Yes. If you keep working like this.”

Thomas’ whole face lit up and a small smile danced around his mouth, one that was immediately brought down again. Still, he looked like an excited puppy. Newt found it very irritating. 

“Okay.”

Newt nodded one more time and for some reason, he wanted to take it all back. He regretted saying yes when he remembered what a pain in the ass Thomas was. 

But he also wanted to smile, for some weird reason.

He knew he was fucked. He didn’t even know why he’d agreed on this, this was Thomas, for gods sake. But somehow he had to give the guy a second chance, even though he still hated him.

Newt blamed it on the puppy eyes. 

“I’ll check these okay? You go do homework or… something else.” He gestured vaguely to Thomas, who just nodded eagerly. 

“Yeah, okay, yeah sure.”

Newt shook his head and grabbed a pen to correct with, trying to read the messy handwriting. 

Thomas got a history book and a college block in front of him, plugging in his earbuds. He looked different. He was actually focusing on his work and bouncing his head to the music, tapping his foot on the ground in a completely different rhythm. It annoyed Newt. 

When he glanced at him, he quickly looked away, only now realizing that he'd been staring, but he didn't miss the way Thomas' lip curled up the tiniest bit. 

He bit his own lip to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and by the way, I need to leave at 3, if that's okay."

Newt looked to the side and saw Thomas swallowing nervously again, like he was actually afraid of him. He huffed out a laugh due to the absurdness of the situation. 

"Okay, I can work with that."

Thomas face lit up again and he nodded, and then focused back on his work again. 

Newt shook his head and started correcting the sentences. 

What an idiot.

-

 _35 minutes later._

The checking took a little longer than he'd expected. He didn't have a correction sheet, so he had to make every sentence himself. When he was finally done with it, he sighed deeply and threw the pen on the table. 

Thomas had been working quietly the whole time, only occasionally murmuring something or singing along to a song. 

Newt tried to get his attention a few times by just calling his name or saying "hey!", but apparently Thomas was so caught up in his work that he didn't hear anything (or his music was just way too loud, that scenario was most likely.)

So in the end, he gave up and decided to actually touch the boy. He didn't think at all that Thomas was gross or anything; he always appeared well-groomed. But touching someone was a whole different level of banter and he didn't know if he was ready for that. 

But he kind of had to. 

He lightly tapped Thomas on the shoulder, careful to not touch the boy any longer than he had to. "Thomas?"

What surprised him, was that Thomas kind of freaked out; he flinched immensely and shielded his face with his arms. Then the boy looked up with wide eyes, and when he saw that it was Newt who'd touched him, he visibly relaxed and exhaled in relief. 

Newt frowned at the sudden panic on the boy's face. "Whoa, dude, okay, it's just me."

Thomas swallowed and shook his head, smiling a little. "I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise."

Newt raised an eyebrow at him that clearly said that he didn't believe him, but decided not to dwell on it any longer. He scooted his chair a little closer to Thomas (much to his dismay), and laid the stack of papers in front of them. 

"So," he started, glancing at Thomas, "you got 19 mistakes. Out of 130."

The brunet’s whole face fell. "Oh."

Newt almost laughed at the obvious disappointment, but didn't really understand why Thomas felt like that. "Dude, that's good. Very good. Especially if you consider you sucked a few days ago."

Thomas sent him a glare, and okay, he deserved that. 

He shoved the papers in front of Thomas. "Now, try to make these right." He pointed at one of the mistakes and Thomas blew out a breath. 

"I'll try."

"Good luck."

Thomas sent him one last glance, not really hostile, but not very kind either, and then got to work. 

30 sighs and 'fuck's' later, Newt got fed up with it. Yes, he understood this was hard for Thomas, but he didn't have to be this obvious about it. 

He sent Thomas a hard glare and the boy immediately shut up, now sulking quietly. It looked hilarious. 

After 20 seconds, Thomas spoke up again.

"Newt?"

Newt looked up in surprise, somewhere in the back of his head realizing that this was the first time Thomas had called him by his normal name.

"Yeah?"

The brunet suddenly looked shy and stared at the paper and fiddled with the pen in his hand. "Can you help me?"

Newt's eyebrows probably reached his hairline, and his first instinct was to say 'no go figure it out yourself', but then he realized that, as Thomas' tutor, this was kind of his duty. 

He sighed, and when Thomas sent him a nervous glance, he rolled his eyes. "Fine."

When Thomas was about to start smiling, he pulled his lips into a tight line and dropped his voice. "But I still hate you."

And Thomas actually laughed. "Yeah, obviously."

"Then we have that clear." He muttered to himself, and then started explaining everything Thomas had underlined. 

"So, when there has to be a present..."

-

After a while, they almost finished everything. Thomas, to Newt's surprise, was actually smarter than he'd originally thought and picked up the things rather quickly. 

Somewhere during the explaining, Thomas' watch had scooted up his forearm a little, now revealing his wrist. Newt frowned at it. There was a bruise, not a very big one, but it was there, and it looked like a hand had gripped it very tightly. 

He nudged Thomas with his elbow. "What's that?"

Thomas looked surprised, but when he saw his wrist, his face fell. "Oh, that's just... you know, football."

Newt nodded. Of course, Minho always came back with bruises too. 

Then suddenly he registered the watch, (that fucking beautiful black Rolex. He still wanted to know how he got it.)

"Hey, it's 3 o'clock, you need to go."

Thomas raised his eyebrows in surprise and then looked at his watch to see that Newt was right.

"Yeah, you're right. I'll go then."

He almost sounded relieved, and Newt wanted to slap him for it. Though, he himself felt a little relieved that it was over too. But still, Thomas didn't have the right to feel that way. For some reason. 

Thomas put his books in his bag and Newt did the same, tidying the table up a bit. When they both were ready to leave, it was kind of awkward. 

Newt was the first one to speak up. "Okay, well, let's go then."

Thomas nodded and started walking away. Newt contemplated staying behind for a few seconds so that they didn’t have to walk together, but immediately diminished the thought. That was just pathetic. 

He fell into step next to Thomas, and he could still feel this strange tension hanging in the air. It twisted itself around his throat and turned into a nervous feeling in his stomach, and he hated it. 

But he didn't know how to fix it. 

Did he have to apologize for Tuesday? Not really right? It had been Thomas' fault after all. 

Most of it. 

Fuck. 

Thomas came to a stop at the exit of the library. He pointed with his thumb in the other direction. "I'm going that way, so uh... Bye?"

Newt cringed at the awkwardness. He nodded. "Bye."

Thomas pursed his lips like he was holding back something he wanted to say, but then he turned around and walked away.

Before Newt knew what he was doing, the words had already left his throat. 

"No, wait."

Thomas immediately turned around with raised eyebrows. His hands were in his pockets and he was watching Newt expectantly. 

Newt sighed. Fucking impulses. 

"I said some things."

_...your lame self..._

Thomas squinted. 

He took another breath and swallowed, looking at the ground. 

_...your stupid ass stops failing..._

"And I just want you to know that..."

_You're a fucking waste of space._

"I didn't mean them." He looked up again and met Thomas' eye.

The brunet was still raising his eyebrows, as if he was waiting for something. 

Newt groaned. "Don't make me say it."

_I’m sorry._

Thomas huffed out a laugh and ran a tongue along his smile. Then he nodded. "Okay."

Newt swallowed. This was it?

"So, um, we're... good?"

Thomas' whole face fell, but there was still this happy glint in his eyes. "No. We still hate each other." He deadpanned. 

This time it was Newt turn to laugh. He shook his head. "Yeah, obviously."

Thomas sent him a lopsided grin. 

Newt bit his lip, forcing the smile to go down. The tension was completely gone. He still didn't like Thomas, but for some reason it felt like he could somewhat survive these upcoming months. But it was still going to be hard. 

"Then, uh, bye? I guess?"

Thomas rolled his eyes and put his hand on the strap of his backpack, taking a few steps backwards. "Yeah, bye Newton."

Goddammit.

Then he turned around, and with a little jump in his step, he walked away. 

Newt wanted to bet that the bastard was grinning. 

But it was only when his cheeks started to hurt that he realized he was smiling himself.

That was something he'd keep denying ‘till the day he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ily <3


	4. Let's just blame it on the alcohol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt's maybe a little drunk, and then he runs into someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got so many positive reactions on the last chapter, and a lot of you already had suspicions about Thomas and I just want to say that that'll be revealed throughout the story, so you guys need to have a little patience ;)
> 
> Love you <3

#### Saturday - September 29 (0:11 AM)

Newt never really had been a drinker. 

Well, until two years ago. 

He didn't _hate_ it before, but he also didn't really like it like Minho did, who got drunk every weekend back then.

But after his incident, he'd found out that drinking was a very good way to forget about his worries and anxiety, so he did it regularly. It wasn't like he was addicted, definitely not; he knew when he'd reached his limit and never drank himself into a coma. But he did enjoy a drink or two at a party. 

And that was why he was stumbling through the hallways of Minho's house now, with people all around him, trying to find the way to the front door. The party had been nice, he’d hung out with his friends, but now he was tired and wanted to go home. 

That he had to drive for that to happen completely slipped his mind. 

He knew he maybe drank a little more than he usually did, but after the whole fiasco with Thomas, he deserved it, okay? It was justified. 

It was very crowded and he was pushed into several sweaty people, trying to get through to find the exit. 

Suddenly he tripped over some feet, and he was pushed into a body, one that wasn't sweaty (that was a nice change), and one that smelled very nice. 

He draped his arms around the person’s neck and buried his head in the crook of their neck to take a break from the walking (it was very exhausting.) Somewhere in the back of his head he registered that the person had to be a boy, considering the broad shoulders and the absence of boobs.

"Newt?"

Huh.

He knew that voice.

 _Oh_.

And he hated that voice.

He pulled his head back a little to look at the guy he was draped around, and was met with a very unpleasant sight. 

Two brown eyes were staring at him.

"Thomas?"

Of _bloody_ course. 

That bugger just had to be everywhere, didn't he?

The brunet frowned, but he had an amused smirk dancing around his lips. "Why are you hugging me?"

Newt huffed and buried his head in the neck again, not caring that it was Thomas, because it was warm and smelled nice and it was comfortable, so it could've been anyone for that matter. 

"I can better ask youu that." He replied, because suddenly he registered the strong arms around his waist. 

Thomas released the grip he had on Newt, and the blond collapsed against his body, all his weight hanging on Thomas’ neck. "Hey!" The complaint came out a little slurred, and he tried his best to stand straight again, but it was really hard when the floor was shifting beneath him.

Thomas laughed and even though he couldn't see his face, Newt still heard the grin in his voice. "That was why." 

Newt huffed again and finally managed to pick himself up, straightening again. He retracted his hands from the boy’s neck and let them fall to his side, swaying forward a little. Thomas was looking at him with these big eyes, amused but concerned at the same time, laced with a hint of disgust. 

"You’re drunk." He sighed, a disappointed look washing over his face for just a second. “Dude, how much did you have to drink?”

Newt rolled his eyes. Yeah, he drank a little too much, but that was nothing of Thomas' business. And he was in _no_ position to judge. 

He held his fingers in front of him, almost a centimeter apart. The room around Thomas was spinning. "Thiss much."

Thomas made a face. "Uhu, yeah, sure. Were you drowning your sorrows?"

Newt nodded and poked a finger in Thomas' chest, his eyelids drooping. "Exh _a_ ctly."

Shaking his head, Thomas glanced in the direction of the living room and sighed. "Okay, wait a sec, I'm gonna get Minho. You're not going home like this."

Newt frowned and leaned his head on Thomas' shoulder, because keeping his head up was _excruciatingly_ heavy. Maybe Thomas had a small point; driving wouldn’t be the smartest thing. "So you're just gonna dump me?"

Thomas huffed and shrugged, so that Newt's head fell off the shoulder. "I thought you hated me."

Newt hummed approvingly. He did indeed. Kudos to Thomas for noticing that. He let his head fall to the side and closed his eyes. 

“That is trueee."

Thomas squinted at him for a moment, as if deciding what he should do, and then he sighed deeply. "Okay, come on, let's get you upstairs."

What?!

"What'r you gonna do?" He whined, grabbing at Thomas’ shoulders. 

Thomas swatted his arms away pulled him along by his shit. Newt stumbled forward, not able to keep his feet under him. 

"I'm getting you in bed."

Newt sighed. He didn't really want to, but he was kind of tired as well so, whatever. 

When they arrived at the stairs, he tried to ascend them. It didn't really work out; he fell against the wall, hard. Yeah, that was definitely going to be a bruise tomorrow. 

He winced and behind him, he heard an annoyed grunt. Then he felt a strong arm wrapping around his waist, holding him up. Surprised by the sudden contact, he looked to the side and was met with Thomas' mole-dotted neck and yeah, that was _close_. 

It smelled nice though.

Thomas almost dragged him up the stairs, because he didn't want to cooperate. It was just too exhausting. 

When they arrived at the top, Thomas didn't loosen his grip on his waist and he let his head fall on Thomas' shoulder because it was a comfy position. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice said that this was way too much touching with someone he didn't even like, but it felt strangely good.

For whatever reason. 

And it was a lot less awkward or weird than he'd thought it would be. Not that he was thinking much now, other than that he suddenly very, very tired. 

"Ah, yes, fuck! Harder, oh"

He frowned at the sudden sounds interrupting the party noise. He noticed the constant drum of what sounded like a hammer against the wall, but his drunken mind soon realized that it was a bed creaking and slamming against the wall. 

_Oh._

"Is that sex?"

Thomas huffed a laugh next to him. "Yes Newt, that is sex."

He hummed. It sounded arousing. They were very into it apparently. 

What his mind was thinking would he question later, but now it seemed like the perfect topic to talk about. "I want sex again, y'know, the touching and alll. Don't you miss it?"

Thomas chuckled nervously, but didn't answer and opened the door of Minho's bedroom. Newt frowned at him. 

"Well?" He pressed.

They stumbled to the bed and Thomas stayed silent. He pulled the blankets up and shoved Newt under them, and only then he started speaking.

"Well, I've never..."

He looked to the ground and violently started pulling Newt's shoes off, throwing them into the room.

Newt's eyebrows probably reached his hairline.

"You're a virgin?" He whispered, for some reason thinking that this was a very huge secret that Thomas wanted no one to know. 

Finally, the brunette got his shoes off and he straightened up again, putting his weight on one leg. "Yes, I'm a virgin."

Newt frowned. He didn’t get it. "But why? I mean, you're hot..." He trailed off, scanning Thomas' body. "No one wants to tap that ass?"

_Why did he say that again?_

The boy laughed. "Well, first of all, thanks. But I guess... I don’t know, the right person hasn't come along yet. 

Newt considered that for a moment and then nodded, snuggling closer under the blankets, curling up a little. He looked up at Thomas who was standing a bit awkward in front of the bed and he observed him for a bit.

"They will, trust me." He said in a soft voice and smiled a little, because the brunet looked so uncomfortable and seemed like he could use some reassuring words. 

Thomas raised his eyebrows at first, but then smiled a little and ran a tongue along his lips, crossing his arms. For a few moments they just were there, smiling at each other. 

It was weird. 

But also... not that weird?

Suddenly, the bedroom door was opened and both their heads shot up. 

Minho stepped inside and his eyes flicked between him and Thomas, his face settling on a confused expression. 

"Whoa, Thomas, what are you doing?"

Thomas shrugged. "What do you mean?"

Minho waved at Newt with a hand. "Are you going to rape him?" He whispered in a concerned tone. 

Newt's breath hitched in his throat and his stomach made a weird twist because of Minho's choice of words. 

Thomas barked a laugh and rolled his eyes. "Oh please, shut up. He was drunk off his ass and was not in a condition to drive home, so I decided to get him into bed." He raised an eyebrow. "That okay?"

A small smile formed on Minho's face. "Yeah, of course, I'll sleep on the couch."

"Good."

Minho nodded and then grabbed something from his desk. Newt couldn't see exactly what it was from his position. He was about to walk out of the door, but then he turned around, a smug smile on his face. 

Newt knew what was coming when he saw the happy glint in the boy's eyes and he wanted to stop it befo-

"Have fun boys." Minho winked at them both, and then walked out of the door, his posture proud. 

"Shut uuup Minho!" Newt yelled after him, but the guy was already out of sight. 

Thomas turned to him, confused but amused expression on his face. "What was that?"

Newt rolled his eyes. Yeah, Thomas did not have to know about the conversation he and his best friend had had. That would be... awkward, to say at least. 

"Oh, inside joke, nevermind. He's a dick."

Thomas grinned, his teeth showing just a little. 

It was a weird look on him. Newt only knew his face when he was frowning or sighing or doing whatever else he did when he was annoyed. Thomas didn't smile. Or, well, apparently he did. 

And it was an interesting sight. When Thomas smiled, he seemed so much more mature, but at the same time, he looked like a little kid. His smile was... mischievous. He had this glint in his eyes and he seemed like he could pull a prank on you any minute, but it was also like you were the thing he cared about most in the world.

His smile was fascinating. You had to keep looking and you couldn't help but smile too, because it was just too damn captivating. 

Newt was pulled out of his spiral of thoughts about Thomas' smile, (Jesus, why was he even thinking about that?) when Thomas rasped his throat. 

"So, um, do I need to text your dad?” After a beat, he added, “Or your mom?"

Newt raised his eyebrows but then realized that Thomas didn't know anything about him or his personal life, so he couldn't blame him. 

"Yes."

"Where's your phone?"

"In my pocket."

Thomas sighed, and his smile disappeared again. Newt immediately knew again why he didn't like Thomas and his annoying face. He put his hand out. "Can you give it to me?"

Newt didn't know exactly he said what he said, but he was probably just trying to annoy Thomas. He couldn't think that straight anyway with the alcohol in his body. 

"No."

Thomas sighed again and shook his hand. "Newt."

Newt had the urge the stick his tongue out at him. "No."

He saw Thomas clenching his jaw and closing his eyes for a few seconds, probably contemplating what to do with him. He muttered, "God, I hate you." and pinched the bridge of his nose. Newt found it pretty hilarious. 

It wasn't that funny anymore when he felt two hands searching his pockets, moving around his hips. Wow, that was way too close with his personal areas and they definitely hadn't reached that level of friendship yet. 

Not that Newt would ever want to. Reach that. With him. 

He panicked for a moment; foreign hands touching him in that area and he wanted to yell, scream, cry maybe, but then he realized that this was Thomas. Even though he hated the guy, he would never, ever do that to him with a bad intention. 

He trusted Thomas with his life about that.

"Oh my god, you are raping me." He complained, wriggling his hips around to get out of the grip the guy had on him. 

Thomas shook his head and his breath hit Newt’s face. It smelled like vanilla and mint. 

Pleasant, was the only word that came to mind. 

"You're the biggest dick."

Newt smirked at the choice of words and rolled his hips, still ignoring the way Thomas was tapping around in that area. "Well, I have a..."

He was interrupted by a yelp. "Oh my god, shut up! Where's the innocent boy that I know?" 

Newt shrugged and Thomas finally retracted his hands, holding up the phone victoriously in his hand. 

"Well, if you think I'm innocent then you clearly don't know me."

Thomas pursed his lips together, probably to hold back a smile. "Stop. I did not want to know that."

"I wasn't even talking about that!"

Thomas met his eyes again and grinned. "Oh, you definitely were.” 

Newt bit his lip. He was. 

He he he.

Thomas held up the phone and waved it around. "What's your code?"

Newt snuggled closer under the blankets and pulled them up to his chin, relishing the warmth they radiated. "101016."

Thomas nodded and started typing. "Any logic?"

Newt stared to the other side of the room. Hell yes, there was logic. It was the day he'd finally flipped the switch and decided to make something out of his life. 

"The day I wanted to get better." He murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. 

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him but thankfully didn't press any further. Newt was not ready to have that conversation now. 

After a few seconds, Thomas stopped the typing. "Okay, I texted 'mum'," he glanced up for a moment, "'Hey mom, I'm staying at Minho's for the night, see you tomorrow!'"

He looked up again for confirmation and Newt knew there was something missing. 

"Send a love you with it." He hid his face a little under the covers. That was really childish, wasn't it? 

Apparently, Thomas thought so too because he burst out laughing, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

Newt glared at him. "Just do it."

Thomas hiccupped a few more times and then pursed his lips and looked at Newt, trying to suppress his smile. "That's so sweeeeeet."

"Sod off."

Thomas smiled, this time genuine. "It's okay dude, no judging here." He tapped away on the phone, his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth. When he was done, a victorious smile appeared on his face.

"There, all done."

Newt actually smiled. That was pretty nice, even though he was still a dick. "Thanks."

Thomas put the phone on the nightstand. "Whoa, who would've thought you actually had manners and could be nice?"

_Seriously?_

Just when he started to think he was acceptable, he had to throw this comment after it?

He glared at the brunet, who was just smirking. Newt wanted to slap him. 

Thomas threw his head backward and barked out another laugh. "Okay, okay, I get it, we still hate each other."

Newt put on the fakest smile ever. "Good boy."

Thomas rolled his eyes and shook his head, the smile still present. "Goodnight Newt."

Newt sneaked further under the blankets and eyed Thomas for a few seconds. "Night."

At that, Thomas bit his lip like he wanted to say something else but held it back. Then he just nodded and turned around. 

It didn't feel right.

It hadn't been awkward the whole time (which was really surprising), but now it felt like something was missing. 

And Newt kind of knew what. 

Thomas turned off the lights and opened the door, ready to step outside. 

"Thomas?"

The name sounded a little foreign on his tongue, like it didn’t fit with the person.

Thomas didn't turn around, but he halted in the doorway. 

Newt took a breath. "Thank you."

The figure in the doorway stiffened for a second, his shoulders tensing up. Then they fell down and Newt could hear the smile in his voice. 

"You're welcome."

With a soft click, he closed the door. 

And Newt fell into a deep sleep very soon, the alcohol tiring his body.


	5. Pfff no ofCOURSE I still hate you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They study again, but the next day Newt sees something going on in the hallways...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra long chapter for you guys tonight because you deserve it <3
> 
> TW: description of a panick attack later in the chapter. Be safe please! xx

#### Monday – October 1st

Newt’s least favorite month started off perfectly: with an enormous headache and rain that plummeted from the sky. 

He’d spent the whole Sunday in bed, much to Teresa’s dismay who wanted to hang out with him. But he didn’t know what he had to drink the day before, but his hangover was worse than it ever had been. 

Personally, he thought it was because he’d talked to Thomas; that always elicited a headache. 

The day started off quite confusing. When he arrived at school, he saw Harriet and Sonya making out in Biology, and everyone around them was cheering them on. They seemed to be pretty into it. Newt didn’t even know the two liked each other.

Minho was standing with Thomas, Gally and Frypan, clapping and whooping. Newt laughed to himself and then walked over to the boys. 

"What's happening?"

Minho turned to him, a big smile on his face. "Hey Newt!"

Frypan clapped him on the shoulder. "Hey dude."

Newt greeted him with a surprised smile. He'd never really talked to the dark-skinned boy, and he didn't know the guy even knew his name. Still, he'd always thought Frypan appeared nice, so he didn't mind. 

He nodded to Gally. "Hey."

The boy returned the smile. "Morning, Newt."

Thomas was the last one to greet him, not so happy as the others. Still, he sent him a small smile and a nod. It didn't seem hostile. Newt nodded back and then turned to the girls again, who were now gazing into each other's eyes, Teresa and Brenda around them talking happily. 

"When did they get together?" He asked, pointing at Harriet and Sonya. 

Minho answered him. "Well, apparently Teresa, Brenda and the two of them hung out together and they just fell hopelessly in love in one day." 

Thomas nodded. "Yeah, Harriet didn't even know she liked girls until 16 hours or so ago." 

Newt shook his head fondly and looked around the classroom, now slowly starting to fill up with pupils. 

Wait, when did this whole friend-group merge happen?

It had always been him and Minho, Teresa, Gally and Sonya. That were his friends, the people he shared almost everything with and to whom he could turn when times got hard or when he just needed a laugh. 

The others: Thomas, Harriet, Brenda, Frypan and Ben, formed the other group. They were always together as well, laughing or joking around. 

That were kind of the two groups in their year. The 'popular' ones, even if Newt didn't like that word. The two never really communicated much; they had their own friends and that was enough. 

And now everyone was talking with each other?

Harriet and Sonya were together, Minho was friends with Thomas, Teresa and Brenda were laughing around together and Frypan was chatting with Gally. 

What the hell?

Ben wasn't anywhere to be seen, so now he didn't even have a Thomas-gang buddy to talk with. It was sad.

He sat down of one of the chairs next to the table the boys were sitting on, and listened in on the conversation Frypan and Gally were having. 

"Did you turn in that assignment Newt?"

And Newt sighed, realizing that he didn't really have another choice but to participate in the talking. 

"No, not yet."

They chatted until class finally started. 

-

Around lunchtime, his headache finally got less bad and he was walking with Minho and Teresa to lunch. He was about to walk to their table, when a pull on his arm made him stumble another way. He stopped in front of a large table with benches on each side, and there were already people sitting there. 

It took him a second to realize that it was the Thomas-gang. And that he was supposed to sit with them now. 

_Oh god._

Minho sat down next to Thomas across of him at the end of the table. Next to Thomas was Frypan with next to him Sonya, who was sitting across of Harriet, staring into each others eyes. 

Newt sat down next to Harriet, so that next to him were Gally, Teresa and Brenda. 

Huh. 

This was new. 

 

(made a diagram cuz it was really hard to explain but they're basically sitting like this) 

Sonya- Frypan- Thomas- Minho  
|----------------------------|  
Harriet-Newt-Gally-Teresa-Brenda

 

He turned to Gally who was playing with his food. "Remind me again why were suddenly with them?"

Gally smiled. "Well, at the party while you were passed out, we stayed up for a while and yeah, suddenly we were all sitting together and having fun. I don't really get it either, but they're nice."

Newt raised an eyebrow. Nice? Well, yeah, maybe, but Thomas wasn't. Did this mean that they'd all become friends, so that he always had to see Thomas' face? 

God, have some mercy.

"So Newt, you have fun Saturday?" Frypan turned to him, and interested look on his face. Newt smiled. The guy really did seem nice.

"Yeah, actually, just had a little too much to drink."

Frypan nodded knowingly. 

Gally frowned at him. "Thomas brought you upstairs, right? I thought you hated him."

Newt smiled a little sheepishly and felt his cheeks heating up. Not everyone had to hear that. 

Well, too late, he realized when Frypan amusedly raised his eyebrows and Harriet and Sonya immediately tuned in. 

Thomas looked at him from across the table, a smug smile playing around his lips and oh god, he _definitely_ didn't need to hear that. 

"Well, I uh, you know, I don't..."

Frypan burst out laughing and Sonya and Harriet immediately joined, and he was still feeling Thomas' gaze on him. 

He groaned and banged his head on the table. 

Harriet chuckled and soothingly laid a hand on his back. "He can be a little... Let's say _hard_ to get along with in the beginning, for some people. But give him some time, he's the sweetest."

Newt raised an eyebrow at her and then looked over to Thomas again, who was shrugging and waggling his eyebrows. Newt wanted to punch him. With a chair. Repeatedly. 

Thankfully, Frypan quickly changed the topic, but it wasn't really something he wanted to talk about either, not with the most embarrassing conversation with Thomas the other day still fresh in his mind.

"Dude, you really missed something while you were asleep. There was a girl who gave the most amazing blowjobs." Frypan said with a dreamy voice, a small smile forming on his face. 

Harriet and Sonya started yelling and put their hands over their ears

Newt raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Uh, congrats?"

Frypan focused on him again. "Yeah, it is worth a congrats. She would've done you too; said you were cute." He took a sip of his juice. 

Newt coughed and Gally patted him on the back, sending him a knowing grin. 

"Well, I'm not really into that."

Frypan’s eyes widened. "Not into blowjobs?"

Newt laughed and shook his head. "No, I love blowjobs. Just meant... Y'know, girls."

Frypan tilted his head and Harriet, who apparently was listening again, broke out into a wide grin. 

Then the dark-skinned boy smiled too. "Huh, cool.”

Newt blushed a little and returned the smile, receiving positive comments from the girl next to him, Sonya just observing them with a wide smile. (She obviously knew it already, being best friends and all)

Maybe these people weren't that bad after all.

-

After a while, Newt's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out of his jeans, curious about who it could be. His mouth fell open when he read it. 

Thomas- 12:21 PM: library at 2 30?

He glanced up at Thomas, who was acting like he didn't know Newt was even there. He purposely looked to the other side and started talking loudly to Minho. Newt rolled his eyes. 

Newt- 12:21 PM: Seriously? I'm literally across the table.

He saw Thomas grab his phone and grinning at the screen. A few seconds later, he received another text. 

Thomas- 12:22 PM: then why are you texting now instead of talking to me

Newt gritted his teeth. Okay, the boy had a point. Thomas glanced up at him with that stupid smirk, and he wanted to punch the guy. Again. Actually, he just wanted to punch him all day because he was such a little shit. 

He mouthed 'Fuck you', and Thomas just smirked even wider.

'Deal.' 

Newt inhaled, flaring his nostrils. He hated him.

Then the boy pointed at his phone, a question on his face. 

Newt nodded. 2:30 was okay.

Thomas put up his thumb and put the phone back in his pocket, focusing on another conversation again. 

Newt thought about kicking him under the table, just for fun.

When he looked to the side, Gally was smirking at him, eyes flicking between him and Thomas. 

"What?" He asked in confusion. 

The guy just shook his head and laughed, sharing a knowing look with Frypan. Newt frowned, but decided to let it go. Probably just some inside joke. 

He soon got caught up in talking with Harriet and Sonya, and the lunch passed pretty quickly. 

 

-

Around 1 o'clock the headache came back, and only seemed to get worse with the minute. He took a few Advils, but nothing really seemed to help. He still blamed it on Thomas. 

When he walked into the library, said guy was already sitting at their table, bouncing his head to music and writing something down in a notebook. He was wearing different clothes than before, probably because he'd had practice. Now he was wearing jeans and a navy blue henley that fitted perfectly. His hair was once again not styled; it was a mess. 

Shocked, Newt glanced down at his own outfit, only to be met with jeans and... a navy blue henley. 

Goddammit. 

Now they looked like some couple with matching clothes. 

He contemplated leaving for a second, but then Thomas glanced up and tilted his head, not quite smiling, but not not smiling either. It annoyed Newt.

He took a breath and walked over to the table, sitting down with a sigh. 

Thomas observed him amusedly and took out his earbuds, hanging them around his neck. "Hey."

Newt didn't even look at the boy when he grabbed his books. "Hey."

Thomas opened his own books and lay them down in front of them, glancing at him from the side with a smirk. "How are you?"

Newt had the urge to slap the book in his face. "Shut up. I'm still hung over and your voice makes it worse."

Thomas barked out a laugh. "Ouch." Then he studied Newt's face. "But yeah, you look like shit."

_Uh, what?!_

They definitely hadn't reached the level of friendship yet to insult each other. _Definitely_ not. But everything with Thomas just had to be an exception, didn't it?

He raised both his eyebrows at Thomas, and the boy just grinned, getting a small box out of his bag. 

"Don't worry, you're still cute."

_Excuse him?!_

They definitely hadn't reached that level either.

He raised an eyebrow. "What, we're giving each other compliments now?"

Thomas shrugged, took a piece of apple out of the box and popped it in his mouth. Then he held the small container out to Newt. "Well, you told me I'm hot, so I can at least return the favor, right?"

Newt huffed, the embarrassment of two nights ago flooding him again. He wished he could just erase that moment out of the universe. "Can we just forget about that conversation for like, ever?"

Even though he was embarrassed, he still grabbed a piece of apple and put it in his mouth. It was rude to refuse an offer right? Also, he was hungry, so he didn't really care.

"Nope." Thomas shook his head with a smile, popping the P.

Newt sighed, chewing on his apple. "I hate you." 

Thomas hummed approvingly, eating another chunk of the fruit. "I know, you tell me pretty regularly."

Now that was something Newt was proud of. He pointed a finger at Thomas, swallowing the apple. "And don't you ever forget it."

Thomas sent him a lop-sided grin. "Oh, don't worry, I won't."

Shaking his head, Newt grabbed the vocabulary list Thomas had to know by now. He was almost a 100% sure that Thomas didn’t know anything, and he didn’t really mind either. 

"Let's see if you studied these."

When he met Thomas' eyes again, the guy seemed to be completely panicking, and his suspicion was confirmed. 

“Fuck, dude, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot! I only know the first 50 words or so. Fuck,” he murmured to himself, clenching his jaw, “don’t be mad, please.”

Newt had to bite his lip to keep himself from grinning. He didn’t really want to admit that he was kind of impressed Thomas had studied the first 50. 

He faked a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair, slamming the papers on the table. “I don’t know Thomas. I’m really disappointed in you. Maybe I should just quit these lessons.”

Thomas looked really horrified for a few seconds and seemed like a puppy that just broke down the whole house, but then his mouth fell open. 

"No way, it jokes?"

Newt pursed his lips and met Thomas' eyes, and by seeing the unbelievably stunned look, he couldn't keep in the smile anymore. 

"Honestly, you got me there for a second dude." Thomas shook his head, grinning. 

Newt chuckled. "Yeah, I know, you looked horrified. Did you really think I was mad because of that?"

Thomas seemed a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah, you know, last time I didn't know them you got all 'grr grr'," he clawed in the air with his fingers, "so I thought maybe you wanted to kill me now too."

Newt wanted to kick him. 

"Well, because of that horrifying imitation you just did I kind of do want to kill you, but I'll spare you because you have food." He snatched another piece of apple out of the container that was on the table. "And I only said you needed to know them all by two weeks because you were a dick."

When Thomas raised his eyebrows in offense, he threw his hands up. "What? It's the truth. You were a dick."

Suddenly, a smug smile appeared on the brunet's face. "So does that mean I'm not anymore?"

Newt sighed. "Oh yes, you're still a bloody asshole, don't worry."

Thomas huffed at that. 

"Okay, I'm at my limit for insults today. Let's get to work.”

Now that was something Newt could agree on. And he shoved the thought that he wouldn't mind to talk for a bit more far, far away.

"Okay, so the passe compose is..."

-

After 30 minutes, Newt had explained some things and had given Thomas a few exercises to practice. He himself was looking over some notes for History. He had a test in a few weeks and it was so much and so difficult. Thomas’ apple had been eaten by both of them, and there was only one piece left in the box. 

He glanced at Thomas, who seemed to realize the same thing. Their eyes met for a brief second and it was like a silent message was conveyed. At the same time their hands shot forward, trying to grab the piece and that bastard named Thomas got there just a tad earlier. 

Stupid football reflexes.

Newt whined and softly cursed under his breath, but sulked quietly when he saw Thomas' victorious smirk. He did not want to give the guy the pleasure of seeing him suffer. 

He turned to his books again, when suddenly a piece of apple was held out in front of him. It was half of the chunk that had been in the container and had little bite marks on the sides. Thomas didn't say a thing and just chewed on his own piece, looking at his exercises, holding out his hand. 

Newt was really tempted to take it. He really didn't care about other people's saliva at all; he didn't have any trouble with drinking out of the same bottle or eat from the same sandwich.

And he also didn't care that it was Thomas' saliva this time. But it was _Thomas_. And Thomas apparently thought they were friends now so it didn’t matter that they shared their spit. 

Well, it did. 

He pulled a disgusted face at the hand still in front of him, and when Thomas saw that, he just shrugged with a smile and threw the piece in his mouth. 

10 seconds later, Newt's stomach made a sound. He wanted to crawl under the table when he saw Thomas' smug I-told-you-so look.

In response, he sent the guy a glare and focused on history again, trying to get all the Ferdinants and Karels in his head.

He was pulled out of his focus about ten minutes later, when Thomas suddenly groaned loudly and banged his head on the table. He frowned at the boy. 

"You okay?"

Thomas let out a very frustrated sound, and Newt quickly glanced around the library to see a few people staring at them. He shrugged at them like he didn't know at all what was happening (which was true, for the record.) He knew he was being a little shit, but honestly, Thomas looked pretty hilarious. 

The boy banged his head on the table again. "Fuck this. I hate it. HATE IT."

Newt had the urge to teasingly stroke his back. He kept his hands to himself though. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his palms. "Aw, I actually thought you started to love me."

Thomas peeked up through one eye from the table. "Well, obviously." He rolled his eyes and closed them. "But I hate this fucking language." He sat up again and threw his pen on the table in frustration. 

Newt still thought it was funny.

"Well, if you hate it that much, then why did you pick it in the first place?"

Thomas sighed, a sad look washing over his face. "My dad has French roots, so he wanted me to take it."

Newt nodded. He understood that. But no offense- Thomas sucked at French. His dad didn't compel him to do that, did he? He still had free will.

"Yeah, but you could've just said no. I mean," He leaned back a little, turning to Thomas, "he can't have that much power over you."

Thomas huffed and bit his lip, glancing at his arms once. “Yeah, maybe. But, I don't know, maybe I just thought I could do it."

Ouch.

Now Newt felt a little guilty. 

Goddammit. 

He sighed and picked up the pen for Thomas, holding it out for him. The boy eyed the thing a little suspiciously. 

"You can do it." He paused for a bit, making sure he conveyed the message. Even though Thomas was indeed bad at this, he was pretty sure the guy could really do it; if he worked hard enough. 

"Now pick yourself up and do this."

Thomas glanced between him and the pen and then pursed his lips, snatching the thing from his hand. "Okay then."

Newt smiled proudly at himself. Tough love always worked. 

Though, love wasn't really a thing he associated Thomas with. 

-

An hour later, Newt finally got hungry enough he needed to go home. 

Thomas and him had been working pretty well. He'd explained some things, but mostly, they'd just worked on their own, occasionally throwing a snarky remark to the other. 

It had been pretty manageable.

They packed up their things, and when they walked out of the library, Newt ignored the stares from people. He'd never really worried about rumors, but he was more curious what people thought when they saw the two of them together. 

He prayed to god that it didn't look like they were friends. 

Thomas opened the door for him, and Newt saw him eyeing his bad leg for moment. He hated it. Thomas did not have to know that. He seemed to considering something for a moment, but Newt decided not to take the risk and quickly changed the topic. 

"So, you and Teresa were hitting it off, weren't you?"

Thomas' head shot up and he looked like he'd just seen an alien. "What?! No, definitely not. Where did you ge- " He shook his head, "no, I'm not discussing my relationships with you."

Newt grinned. "Good, because I really don't give a shit."

Thomas huffed. 

The rest of the walk to the exit of the school was in silence, but for once, Newt didn't mind it. Well, he minded it a little, he still hated it when things got awkward, but it wasn't that awkward. 

Actually, it never really had been awkward with Thomas. 

Huh. That was the first thing on the 'Positive things about Thomas' list. Well, aside from the fact he smelled nice. That was just a fact. Thomas was always wearing some sort of amazing cologne, and around him always hung a hint of vanilla. And his breath was always minty. 

It was just overall good, okay?

When the pair arrived at the door, Newt groaned at what he saw outside. The rain was plummeting from the sky, the skies were gray and everywhere on the parking lot were puddles of water. 

Thomas eyed him. "Don't like rain?"

Newt huffed. No, he bloody didn't. It was wet, depressing, cold, and always made him feel like his whole world was falling apart. So no, he didn't like it. 

"Nope, hate it."

Thomas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously? I love it."

Newt made a face. "Why? What on earth makes you like this bloody downpour?"

The boy next to him chuckled. 

"What?!"

Thomas shook his head. "You're so British."

Newt scoffed. Well, duh. He'd heard that about a thousand times in his life. But coming from Thomas, it didn't seem disapproving, more like simply stating something. 

After a few beats of silence, Thomas finally answered his question. "Don't you find it peaceful? It makes this nice sound, you can curl up in a blanket all day, watch some Netflix with hot chocolate,"

"Tea." Newt corrected him.

"Tea." Thomas rolled his eyes, "I don't know. It's like, whatever problems we may have, rain makes them seem... insignificant. Like you can pause for a moment with worrying yourself sick. It's a moment of peace." Thomas looked through the doors, a sad, dreamy expression on his face. 

Newt stilled for a moment, thinking about the words. He hated the rain because it was cold and wet. Thomas seemed to have actually thought about it. Maybe the guy wasn't that superficial after all. 

Thomas looked like he daydreaming with the way he was staring out the window, and on one hand Newt wanted to interrupt him. But on the other hand, the guy really did seem at peace for a moment. 

Thomas never appeared stressed-out or anxious, but he was always moving some part of his body, or humming, or tapping, or whatever else. 

Now he appeared calm.

So Newt managed to stretch the moment for a little while longer. He leaned against the wall and looked outside too, going over and over the words Thomas had said mere moments ago. He could somewhat see where he came from. It was kind of peaceful, if you wanted to think that way. 

But he still hated rain. 

After a few minutes, he decided he'd had enough. He got Thomas' attention by coughing once, and the boy seemed to be pulled out of trance. He seemed like he wanted to apologize for a moment, but when he finally realized that Newt just stood there waiting for him, he squinted at him like he wanted to figure him out.

Newt wished him the best of luck, because he didn't even understand himself at times.

He gestured to the door. "Want to go for it?"

Thomas exhaled. "Together?"

And wow, that sounded weird. There wasn't a together with them, they were just two people who were unfortunately put together and who's friends suddenly became friends too.

But still, Newt nodded, pulling the collar of his jacket up a little. 

Thomas put his hand on the handle of the door and seemed like he was going to open it, but he turned to Newt with a small smirk. 

"Is your group sitting with us again tomorrow?"

Newt frowned at the sudden change of topic. "Uh, I think so. Why?"

Thomas shrugged, the smirk growing. "Your friends are pretty nice. I liked their company, so if they want to sit with us again, they're welcome."

Newt raised an eyebrow. That was it?

"You on the other hand... I wouldn't mind if you sat somewhere else."

Of course that wasn't it. 

"But I liked your _friends_. They’re welcome."

"I'll get the message across." Newt grumbled, preparing himself for the short distance he'd have to run from the school to his car.

He saw Thomas eyeing his leg one more time. The guy met his eyes, a concerned expression on his face, but when Newt nodded, he finally opened the door and sprinted outside. 

Newt did the same, and tried the best he could not to get drenched. He accidentally stepped in a puddle, so his whole shoes and jeans got wet, but he eventually got into the car without too much damage. 

A few seconds later he heard the honk of another car, and he just knew it was Thomas.

He sighed. 

And he honked back. 

-

#### Tuesday

He learned that Brenda was one of the most amazing girls he'd ever met. She was sweet, funny, sharp, but also a good listener. Newt understood why Teresa suddenly became so close with her.

Just to fuck with Thomas, he sat with the whole group that day. When Thomas spotted him, he grinned, probably remembering yesterday. He grinned back, ignoring Minho's and Gally's exchange of looks. 

Ben came around lunchtime; apparently he'd been sick with the flu for a few days. He came back ripped. Instead of being sick, Newt suspected him of having lived in the gym for a few days because _holy god._

The guy surprised them during lunch, putting his hands on Thomas' shoulders and pressing down a little. When Thomas saw who it was, the guy jumped up and hugged him, holding on tight for a few seconds. When he pulled back, he lingered just for a second and he smiled brightly, his eyes sparkling with-

Oh. 

_Oh_. 

Newt grinned to himself as he saw the exchange of smiles between Ben and Thomas. No one else seemed to notice though, as they just kept talking like nothing happened. 

He didn’t know Thomas liked guys. That was interesting. Not that he’d ever want to be with Thomas, but it was just… interesting. 

An unexpected ally. 

Ben smiled back just as brightly and started blushing a little, so Newt wondered if they were together. But then on the other hand, if there’d been a gay couple at their school, he’d know about it. 

The two sat down again, Ben pressed between Minho and Thomas. The guy gestured towards the table. 

“What’s this?”

Thomas grinned as if he was going to reveal a big surprise and met Newt’s eyes once, lingering for just a second before answering. “We’ve made new friends.”

Ben raised his eyebrows and then glanced at Thomas, a small smile on his face. God, did no one else see this? They were disgustingly cute. 

Even though he never wanted to think about Thomas as cute. 

Then Ben turned to the table, greeting them all. Newt smiled back; the guy seemed really nice. 

Soon, Thomas and Ben were too busy with gazing at each other to talk to anyone else, so Newt started a conversation with Brenda and Minho who were throwing small pieces of food at each other. 

He had fun.

The next hour, he had math with Thomas, Ben, Harriet and Gally, so they all sat pretty close, Thomas in front of him. 

It was weird and they didn’t talk at all, but if their eyes accidentally met, it wasn’t meant to kill each other.

Newt didn’t know what to think of that development. 

-

#### Wednesday

The day after Ben came back, he had lunch at the same table again. 

He learned that Frypan was apparently the best cook out of them all. (the guy had offered to cook for him sometime so he could find out himself.) Sonya and him spent the rest of lunch laughing at stupid youtube videos. 

Thomas was not that all over Ben anymore, although they still had these awkward gazes and touches. 

He thought about commenting on it a few times, but he didn’t want to be the one to accidentally out them, so he kept his mouth shut, only throwing them a few amused glances here and there.

Thomas shrugged a few times at him with a confused face as if he didn’t understand what he was on about, and then shook his head and turned back to Ben. 

Newt found it pretty hilarious.

-

#### Thursday

What he didn’t find hilarious is that he saw two people fighting in the hallways the day after. 

He’d stayed at school a bit longer to read some history books to help him a little with his test. Around 4 o’clock, he went home. He was listening to music, life was good, and suddenly he heard a loud groan and someone being slammed against a locker. 

He quickly rounded the corner to see what the hell was going on. A brunet had a blond guy pinned against the lockers, his fist raised. He tried to yell to stop, but he was too late and the fist already painfully connected with the jaw. 

The blond guy immediately yelled back something Newt couldn’t make out, and then hit the brunet full on his nose. 

“Hey! Stop it!”

Newt ran to where the two guys were standing, who didn’t even look up at the voice. 

His mouth fell open when he saw who the guy who hit first was. 

Thomas. 

What the _hell_?

He ran faster, as best as he could with his leg and then saw that the other guy was… Ben?

His blinked twice to grasp what he was seeing, but even then, the sight didn’t change. Thomas was pinning Ben against a locker, looking furious, and Ben was trying to fight back, but even with his newfound muscles, Thomas was stronger. 

“Thomas! Ben!”

Thomas' head shot to the side, his eyes shining with fury but most of all, hurt. 

“ _Fuck_ off, Newt.”

Thomas raised his fist again and Newt grabbed his arms from behind.

“Stop it!”

Thomas screamed and struggled against his grip. “Let me go! Let me _go_!”

Ben just watched the whole scenario with wide eyes, his hand on his jaw. 

Thomas wouldn’t stop fighting, so Newt tightened the grip on his arms and pulled them further behind his back. 

“Calm down!”

“LET GO OF ME!”

Newt fought against Thomas and leaned forward. That his mouth brushed Thomas’ ear didn’t matter at all. 

“Calm _down_.” He said in a low, determined voice and Thomas finally stilled. 

Newt sighed and then the brunet violently pulled himself out of his grip, taking a few steps away from him and Ben. 

Newt glanced between Thomas and Ben, the latter still covering his jaw.

“What the hell?!”

Thomas scoffed and turned his back towards them. Ben just stood there dumbfound, shaking his head as if trying to grasp the situation. 

“What happened?” He asked, raising his voice. 

Ben spoke up, his voice confused. “I- we were just talking and suddenly he flipped and started punching.”

Newt raised an eyebrow and scoffed inwardly. He didn’t know Thomas that well, but he definitely didn’t do something like that out of nowhere. That just wasn’t him. 

He turned to Ben fully now, who was looking at Thomas intensely. “Well, I don’t think he just did that out of nowhere,” he took a step forward, “so what the _hell_ did you say?”

He almost flinched at the bitterness of his own voice, and _whoa_ , when did he start to get protective over Thomas?

Ben looked at him again, eyes full of wonder and confusion. “We were talking about my family, uh, my cousin who had some problems at home, and I was like ‘well, he should’ve just moved out’ and before I could even finish the sentence he punched me. I don’t get it.”

He wanted to step to Thomas, but Newt put a hand to his chest and stopped him, sending him a meaningful look. Inwardly, he went over the words Ben just said. Something deep inside of him clicked, like he realized what was going on, but he shoved it far away. 

He turned to Thomas, who still had his back towards them, his hands on his hips.

“Thomas?”

The guy slowly turned around, and Newt felt his stomach do a twist by seeing the blood dripping from his nose, covering his whole shirt. 

“I think it’s better if you go, Ben.” He said in a cold voice, dripping with venom. 

Ben opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Thomas. “Now. And we’re off for Saturday.”

It was like Newt didn’t exist, and to be honest he didn’t really mind; this seemed a little personal. 

“Tom, please, I-”

“Leave.” 

Newt saw a hurtful look wash over Ben’s face, and then he nodded, his chin puckering. The boy walked away, his shoulders down and face to the ground. Thomas watched him as he did, his jaw clenched. 

When Ben got out of sight, he turned to Newt. 

“You too.”

Newt scoffed. “No.”

He was not leaving now. He didn’t really know why not, but it didn’t feel right to leave Thomas here; obviously upset and with blood streaming down his nose. 

Thomas sighed and took a few steps back, running a hand over his face. “Newt, it was nothing. Just go.”

“Nothing? You punched him.” Newt raised an eyebrow and put a step forward. “What happened?”

Thomas huffed, and it almost sounded like a sob. “He was a dick and I overreacted. Happy?”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing that is any of your business, Newt. Just go.” His face took on the cold expression again, though his eyes screamed sadness. 

So of course Newt didn’t leave. 

“Come on.” He grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him along to the bathrooms, just to clean up all the blood. 

“What are you- let me go!” 

Newt almost grinned at Thomas’ pleas, because he could easily fight himself free; Newt’s grip wasn’t that tight.

He opened the door of the restrooms and put Thomas against the sink, grabbing a few paper towels. He made them a little wet and then stepped right into Thomas’ personal space, cleaning his face. 

Why he was doing this he couldn’t exactly say himself, but he knew it was the right thing to do and he never let people suffer on their own. 

He inspected Thomas’ face, lingering on the golden specks in his iris for just a second. The nose seemed to be the only place where damage was done, which made sense, since Newt only had seen one punch. 

Thomas had his eyes cast down the whole time, fixated on the floor. When Newt got to his chin, and thus forced his head up, he finally decided to speak up. 

“What happened there?” He asked in a much softer voice than before. 

Thomas glanced between his eyes, and only then Newt noticed the proximity of their faces so he took a step backwards. 

Sighing, Thomas closed his eyes and exposed his neck so Newt could reach it better. “I don’t know, actually. He said something, and it triggered me, I guess.”

Newt nodded. He understood that. Sometimes people said things and he almost got a panic attack from just hearing the words. Apparently, Thomas voiced it with anger. 

The blood was still dripping from Thomas’ nose, even though it hadn’t been as bad before. 

“Okay, you gotta hold your nose for a bit.”

Thomas looked at him like he was crazy.

Newt rolled his eyes and demonstrated on his own nose how to hold it properly. When the guy tried to do it himself, he whined. 

"It hurts!"

Sighing, Newt grabbed Thomas' hand and put it sternly on the nose, pinching it once. He didn't exactly know when he'd decided that touching was on the list of thing he could do now, and he immediately made a deal with himself that he'd stop it. He didn't have to be friends with Thomas. 

The guy sulked quietly but kept his hand in place, and Newt threw away the bloody prop of paper. He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. 

"I gotta go pee."

Thomas shrugged. "Yeah, fine."

Newt tried not to look too awkward when he closed the bathroom-stall door behind him. He was not going to strip down in front of Thomas while he was holding his bloody nose. That was just plain weird. 

And also, why did Thomas stay? He could go, he was cleaned up and Newt didn't tell him to do anything else (except for stopping the bleeding.)

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard hushed mutters coming from the other side of the door. Frowning, Newt finished and flushed the toilet, stepping outside to see what was going on. 

What he saw hurt him just the tiniest bit, even though he didn't, at all, care about Thomas. 

The boy was leaning forward, his head down and a hand slamming on the sink. 

Newt was about to speak up when the whispers changed into shouts, and he flinched in surprise at the sudden outburst. 

"Fuck him. Fucking asshole, I HATE HIM, goddammit!" The boy cried out, voice cracking. Thomas slammed on the sink one more time and a few tears fell on the ground, his knees buckling.

It was torture to look at.

His stomach did a weird flip, and his heart started beating in his throat. What the hell? Newt stepped up and wanted to calm him in some way; just help him. He didn't know how to though, so he softly put a hand on Thomas' shoulder, trying to comfort him. 

He got a completely different reaction, unfortunately. 

Thomas let out a panicked scream and slapped his hand to the side, hitting Newt's arm in the process. He felt the pain for a second, but soon forgot about it when Thomas turned around and tried to push him away.

He reacted quickly and locked his arms around the boy's shoulders, trying to keep him in his grip. 

So far for no touching.

"Thomas!"

"Let me go!"

The guy kept yelling and pushing at him and it hurt, but it hurt more to see the boy like this. He may hate Thomas, but he didn't wish this desperation on anyone; he knew how it felt.

"Thomas, calm down!"

"Let go, let me- let me go, go-..."

His pleas got weaker and weaker, his hands didn't push anymore, and instead the guy fell limp against his body. Thomas' breath quickened and he started sobbing. Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Great, now he had a crying Thomas in his arms.

He really didn't know what to, and somehow he had the urge to hug the boy, soothe him a bit, but he knew better than that. Thomas would probably immediately shield away from his touch and then freak out even more, and that was something Newt didn't want for him. 

But when eventually the sobs got louder and turned into loud gulps of breath, Newt immediately recognized it as a panic attack. 

Oh god. 

He pulled Thomas away from his chest and tried to look him in the eye, but the brunet was too busy trying to breathe and get away from whatever he was trying to get away from. 

Newt took a deep breath and grabbed the boy by his shoulders, his grip maybe a little harsh, but he had to get Thomas to focus for a second. 

"Thomas, look at me. _Look_ at me."

The boy kept wheezing and his chest was heaving up and down, but he managed his eyes up; the undeniable fear in them clear.

"You're okay. It's just me, you're safe."

Thomas looked up again with wide eyes, sweat on his forehead, but seemed to calm down the tiniest bit. Still, he couldn't breathe and Newt had to shake his head to get that tight feeling off his chest.

"It's gonna be alright. You know who I am?"

The brunet tried to nod. "N-Newt."

"Good. Where are we?"

"At the- at the school."

Newt ran his hands up and down Thomas' shoulders a little. "Okay, good. You're safe, okay? You're with me. No one else is here. No one can hurt you."

Thomas nodded and he finally got in a good breath, but was immediately spat out again, followed by a cough that sounded an awfully lot like a sob. He averted his eyes again and stumbled a little, so Newt pulled him up.

"Shh, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you."

Thomas nodded and gulped again, this time managing to keep it in. The exhale still sounded ragged.

"Now, breathe with me, okay? In," Newt took a breath, counting to four and tracking Thomas' every move, "and out."

Thomas didn't follow his rhythm at all but Newt knew it didn't matter, he'd eventually catch on."

"In... and out."

He kept counting to four at every in- and exhale, a little trick he'd learned from his therapist. It always worked.

"In... and out."

Thomas gulped again and Newt ran his hands down his shoulders again. "You're doing great. In... and out."

The boy kept looking him in the eye with every breath and Newt could see the tendons taut while trying to fill his lungs.

Eventually, Thomas managed to take in a whole breath at his count. 

Newt smiled encouragingly. "Yes, that's it. It's almost over. You can do this."

Thomas did it again.

"In... and out."

And again.

"In... and out."

Then he exhaled on the beat.

"In... and out."

-

After a few minutes Thomas was breathing normally again, though a little shakily. 

Newt let out a sigh in relief and let go of his shoulders, squeezing them one last time. 

Thomas dragged a hand across his tear-stained cheeks and his sweat-covered forehead. He blew out another breath before shaking his head and stepping back, leaning against the sink. 

"Wow, thanks."

Newt bit his lip and smiled softly. "It was nothing."

Thomas let out a humorless chuckle. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't." Newt stepped forward a little and put his hands in his pockets. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Thomas managed a little smile. Then he frowned. "How did you know how to do that?"

"What?"

"The whole," he gestured around vaguely with his hand, "helping it stop and counting to four thing."

"Oh." Newt swallowed, hesitating if he should tell Thomas this.

Thomas kept looking at him with those curious and confused eyes, as if he genuinely wanted to know it.

_The guy just had a bloody panic attack in your arms, he won't laugh at you._

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I uh, I used to get 'em too." When he saw Thomas' face go oh, he added, "Still do, actually."

Thomas seemed shocked for a moment; his eyes widened the tiniest bit and he raised his eyebrows. He seemed like he took pity on him. Newt hated pity. He didn't want it. 

The brunet sighed and pursed his lips, the pitiful look being replaced with an understanding one. "Sucks."

Newt huffed a laugh. "Yeah, it does."

Thomas smiled at him a little, and they just stood there for a while, both calming down. 

While he stood there, Newt realized that he'd just told Thomas he still got panic attacks; something he'd only told his friends a few months ago. It felt strange; Thomas knew something about him now that not a lot of people did and it could easily be used against him. But then on the other hand, Thomas got them himself too, so it would be weird if he used it against other people, right?

And if he had completely honest with himself, Thomas didn't really seem like the type who'd do that, even if he wanted to think that so badly. 

After what felt like a few minutes, Newt decided to speak up again. He knew panic attacks took some time to process, but he also kind of wanted to get home, no matter how bad he felt about it.

"You okay?"

Thomas blew out a long breath and nodded, putting his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. I guess."

Pursing his lips, he squinted. "You wanna go home?"

Thomas' face washed over with a sad look at the word 'home', but he nodded anyways. "Don't really have a choice do I?" He asked, trying to make it sound like a joke. 

Newt immediately saw through it. 

But he was not going to invite this guy to his house. 

Abso-fucking-lutely not. 

So he just laughed a little, picking up his bag again. "Let's go then."

They walked out of the bathroom. Thomas was, despite his panic attack from mere minutes ago steady on his legs, and Newt thought that was very impressive. If he had a panic attack, he usually couldn't walk properly for at least an hour. 

He must be used to it. 

And that was very, very heartbreaking, as much as he didn't like Thomas. The boy didn't deserve that either. 

They walked in silence for most of the time, and to Newt's surprise it, again, wasn't awkward. 

After a while Thomas spoke up, not sounding very happy with what he was about to say. "So, uh… Thanks again?"

Newt rolled his eyes. Seriously? He didn't have to thank him. It was common sense to help someone who is about to suffocate, even if you didn't like that person. 

"Well, I could hardly leave you out there to die, right?"

Thomas shrugged. "Technically, you could. Seeing as how much you hate me."

Newt had to give him that. "Yeah, true, but that doesn't mean I want you to bloody die." 

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him and he added, "Well, sometimes I do, but that's not the point."

The brunet let out a laugh. "Okay, great you're being honest. But however you feel about it, you didn't let me die and I appreciate that."

Rolling his eyes, Newt gave him a shove. "Stop being sappy. But... You're welcome, I guess."

Thomas laughed a little and tried to recover from the push. He eyed Newt once, squinting a little and then sighed. 

"Could you just, like, forget about this? I don't want everyone to know, and it was nothing, honestly. Just… yeah..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely in the air. 

Newt nodded. He understood that. 

"Sure."

The boy next to him seemed very relieved and let out a breath. "Okay."

The rest of the walk to the parking lot was silent, but it was fine. When they were about to part, Newt turned to Thomas. 

"You think you'll be okay getting home?"

Thomas observed him suspiciously for a moment, and then broke into a wide grin. 

Newt knew what was coming. Goddammit, why did he even ask?

"Are you _worried_ about me?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "No."

Thomas ran a tongue along his smile. "Yes, you were."

Determined, he shook his head. "No, I wasn't."

He really wasn't. It was just that he wanted the guy to not-die while driving. Was that worrying? Nah. 

_Right?_

Thomas nodded and tried to pat him on the shoulder, but Newt ducked away. "You so were."

Sighing, Newt turned around and walked away. So far for showing he cared. Thomas just immediately had to screw things up, didn't he? 

He put up a hand as he walked off, leaving Thomas behind him. "I hate you!"

"I hate you too!" The guy yelled behind him, probably waving back. Newt didn't want to look back to check. 

When he got to his car he risked once glance to the side to see Thomas opening his own door. As if his gaze was burning, Thomas immediately looked up. He started smirking when he saw Newt. 

"I'll text you when I get home!"

Newt rolled his eyes. "I don't careeee!"

Thomas tilted his head. "Uhu, keep telling yourself that. Bye!"

Newt didn't bother to respond. 

He didn't care, right?

Yeah, he didn't want Thomas to die, but he didn't want anyone to die, so that didn't count. 

But caring for that stupid brunet? Nah. He didn't. 

He got into the car, igniting the engine.

Maybe he cared a teensy tiny bit. 

Whatever.

-

15 minutes after he came home, he got a text from Thomas.

\- Thomas- 16:56 PM: i got home safely

Newt rolled his eyes when he read it. Of course the guy wouldn't leave it be. 

\- Newt- 16:57 PM: What a shame

\- Thomas- 17:00 PM: mean

Newt contemplated responding for a minute, but then decided the guy wasn't worth it. 

5 minutes later, he still did. 

10 minutes later, it was still on his mind, and he cursed himself for it, but then decided he had nothing to lose. 

\- Newt- 17:11 PM: Only to people who are stupid

That was kind of lame. But whatever.

Thomas responded almost immediately. 

\- Thomas- 17:12 PM: thats not helping your case

\- Thomas- 17:12 PM: but dont worry, i know you only do it cuz you love me

Newt choked on his drink and burst out laughing. 

\- Newt- 17:13 PM: I sincerely hope you don't really think that

\- Thomas- 17:13 PM: i do, i know you just dont want to admit it

\- Newt- 17:14 PM: Sorry to disappoint you. If I even felt some sort of affection towards you I'd tell you

\- Thomas- 17:14 PM: hmhmmm so helpin me this afternoon from not dying and telling me im safe and telling me you werent gonna hurt me had NOTHING to do with caring

\- Newt- 17:15 PM: Nope

\- Newt- 17:15 PM: Nothing

\- Thomas- 17:15: whatever let's you sleep at night hon

Newt rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. He could see Thomas' smirk in his head, the bastard. 

\- Newt- 17:16 PM: Have I told you I hate you already today?

\- Newt- 17:16 PM: Because I do

\- Newt- 17:16 PM: A lot

\- Thomas- 17:17 PM: feelings mutual bby xxx

Newt pursed his lips to stop smiling. And to stop him from kicking things. It was a weird sensation. 

He didn't respond anymore; he'd had his daily dose of Thomas, and it was exhausting. 

And a tiny bit funny. 

And he didn't want to think of Thomas like that because he wasn't funny, so he put on some Netflix, drowning all thoughts of today. 

-

Almost... He could feel the sleep seeping into his body and he almost fell off that edge... And then a buzz of his phone jerked him awake. 

He frowned, groaning loudly. Who the hell could that be?

He cursed the guy when he saw who it was. 

\- Thomas- 22:54 PM: sorry again for today. and thanks. can we please not talk about it again? it was nothing

Newt sighed and felt a weird feeling stir in his stomach. This text had such a different tone. He read back a little to read the texts from this afternoon, only to see teasing 

This was different. 

Sad. 

And Newt didn't know how to respond. 

\- Newt- 22:55 PM: Yeah, of course

Burying his head in the pillows, he realized that maybe that wasn't the most thoughtful response ever. But whatever, it was Thomas. 

When his phone buzzed again, he slammed his head into the pillow. He didn't have to look. He could just fall asleep and read the text in the morning. But he was curious. So he pushed himself up on his elbows again, grabbing his phone from his nightstand. 

\- Thomas- 22:57 PM: thanks. goodnight

Okay, that was kind of sweet. 

And not responding would be the most dick-ish move ever.

\- Newt- 22:59 PM: Night

He sighed and shook his head, falling back onto his bed again.

He didn't really know what to think about it. All of it. 

So Newt just closed his eyes and let the darkness take him away to a peaceful, dreamless night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was a little late (at least in my timezone it was:)) , I was at work so I couldn't post. xx meghan


	6. Ok im a little nice to you but you’re still my nemisis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, they study, they talk about stuff, and Newt comes to a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hoes I'm back <3
> 
> so, that update I posted explaining about my scheduele and stuff turned out to be all bullshit, because everything is flipped again. SOOOOO i'm not gonna stick to a certain update day these upcoming weeks, simply bc i don't have enough time and because i not home much. But anyways u guys probs don't really care abt my rambling abt my vacation and shit so here's the chapter for u, hope you enjoy very much ;)
> 
> oh and remember even though i may not updte as frequently now, i still love writing and this story (and you guys) just as much, so dw. 
> 
> love meghan. xx
> 
>  
> 
> oh and btw this chapter is written depressingly badly, bc I wrote it a while ago and i didnt feel like rewriting the whole thing, sorry not sorry xoxooxox

#### Friday - October 5th 

Despite his aversion to being late, Newt wasn't always on time for school. Even better; he was known as the guy who always came in the latest. He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t make it on time. It was like his mind was blocking that part of him that wanted to leave a few minutes earlier when he left for school.

What was different from other times today Newt didn't know either, but he was actually one of the first ones in class. 

He had the urge to roll his eyes when he saw who else was already there, sitting in an utterly cool position on a table and scrolling away on his phone. The guy obviously looked stunning in his dark jeans and black long-sleeved shirt, his hair a hot mess.

Thomas.

Seriously?

Newt quickly glanced around to see if he could leave before anyone saw him, but then of bloody course, Thomas looked up right that moment, recognition flickering over his face. 

The boy nodded as a greeting, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips and then went back to his phone. Newt bit his lip, considering what to do now. Should he walk over to him? Talk to him? They didn't even like each other; that would be weird right? But sitting down a few tables next to him and grabbing his own phone would be even weirder. 

He sighed, peeking back into the hallway one more time to see if any of their friends were coming. No one. 

Shit. 

Newt adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and then walked over to Thomas, leaning with his butt on the table across of him. 

The guy glanced up from his phone briefly and then shut it off with a click. "Hey."

Already thinking of topics to talk about, Newt dropped his bag on the floor. "Hey."

Thomas smiled a little at him and he looked so smug, Newt was very tempted to kick him. 

Then he noticed the bruise on the side of his face. 

He tilted his head, pointing at Thomas' cheek. "Where'd you get that?"

Thomas frowned for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Newt patted his own cheek for emphasis. Thomas' hand immediately shot up, covering the spot. 

"Oh, that, you know, yesterday... Ben." He whispered the last word as if it were a secret. 

But... Newt had only seen one punch yesterday. And that made sense. Thomas had punched Ben and then Ben had punched back as self-defense. On Thomas' nose. 

Nowhere near his cheekbone.

He felt the question lying on his tongue, but when he saw the brunet's averted gaze, he decided against asking. Thomas apparently didn't want to talk about it and if he would, he probably didn't want to tell him. 

"Have you talked to him yet?"

Crossing his arms, Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Nope." He popped the P. "And how is that any of your business?"

Newt crossed his arms as well. "It may not concern me, but it still _affects_ me."

Thomas tilted his head, a small smirk forming. "Oh, and how's that?"

Shrugging, Newt replied. "Well, apparently our friends are friends now, so that means I have to see your stupid face every day."

As Thomas started smiling, he continued. "And if you're sulking the whole time I don't think I can take that any longer."

"Okay, you have a point," Thomas admitted, still a hint of a smile on his face. "But I'm not going to talk to him."

"Come on!"

"Nope, not going to happen. End of discussion."

Newt wanted to argue because the two of them had to talk, and he also kind of shipped them, so it wasn't the end of discussion. He opened his mouth to say something but was surprised by two hands on his shoulders, pressing down. 

He let out a very unmanly yelp and then felt Teresa's curls tickling the side of his head. He shot her a glare for startling him, and one glance to the side confirmed that Thomas and Minho (who'd come in together with Teresa) had heard him yelp and were now laughing their asses off. 

He shot them a glare as well. 

Minho just laughed and Thomas shot him a cheeky grin, and Newt wanted to slap him for it. He hadn't earned the right to make fun of him yet.

"Hey Neeewtt." Teresa said happily in his ear, wrapping her arms around his neck. He forced a smile and patted her arms, trying to signal that she was choking him _holy god_ what is air and finally she let go. 

"Hey Thomas!" 

Teresa sat down next to Newt on the table, scooting her but so that Newt actually didn't have any space anymore. Sighing he stood up and reluctantly dropped down next to Thomas, who had plenty of room on his table. He made sure the space between them was big enough, though. He wasn't up for any unnecessary thigh touching. 

The girl started up a conversation with Thomas and Minho pretty quickly, and Newt just sat there, listening. 

After a few minutes or so, the rest of the gang came in, being obnoxiously loud. Everyone greeted everyone and Ben nodded to Thomas and Newt both. It wasn't hostile, but it was also a little weird. Newt wondered what Ben thought of the two of them right now. They weren't friends, (they'd made that very clear at the lunch table), but they were sitting next to each other and Newt had defended Thomas yesterday.

He understood the weird glances the guy kept sending them.

Suddenly, Brenda sat down next to Thomas, which caused the boy to scoot over. His side pressed up against Newt's.

Dammit. 

He tried to sit on the edge of the table, but it didn't work out; it caused a strain on his leg and he almost fell off. Thomas just sent him an amused grin and patted the space next to him, signaling to Newt that he could just sit there. 

"You probably know by now that I don't bite."

Newt shot him another glare (the third one in a span of 3 minutes? Whoa, impressive, even for him.), but he still sat down, ignoring the way their legs were pressed together. 

He hated it.

It was very uncomfortable. 

And warm.

After a while, Gally caught Thomas' attention. Newt silently shook his head. He should've known the topic would come up sooner or later, and it was going to be quite hard to act as if he didn't know anything about it. 

"Thomas, where'd you get that?" The guy pointed at his cheek.

Newt saw Ben's face go confused for a second; the guy knew just as well as Newt did he'd only hit him one time. 

Thomas spluttered a little. "Oh, well um, you know, so yesterday I, uh..." He nervously glanced at Ben and then looked down at his lap. 

Ben didn't look like he was going to speak up anytime soon, and Thomas definitely didn't seem capable of coming up with a good excuse, so Newt made a decision. 

"Some freshman jock was looking for trouble yesterday."

Thomas looked up at him with wide eyes, huge gratefulness in them. It was almost funny. 

Thankfully, to save them from any awkward silences, the boy quickly caught onto the story, turning to the rest of the group again. "Yeah, he was a dick and eventually we got into a fight."

Brenda seemed furious and raised her eyebrows defensively. "Who the hell was that guy? I'm going to crush him."

Thomas huffed out a laugh. "You don't have to Bren. We, uh, we handled it." He looked back at Newt, a small playing around his lips. 

Newt nodded and smiled back because they had to seem convincing. And if he had to be really honest, it wasn't that hard to smile back at the guy. 

His smile was infuriating.

The days he thought Thomas didn't smile much felt like years ago. 

Suddenly, Minho spoke up. "Wait, _we_? Why were you there Newt? Another study date?" 

And that was when Newt's stomach maybe did a tiny flip, because yeah, it did sound a little suggestive. And the smug smirk on his face made Newt very frustrated. 

"Well, Newt was studying and I was uh..." Thomas glanced at him again and Newt patted his knee. 

He didn't miss the way Ben's eyes glanced down at it.

"Thomas was running." Newt finished for him. 

The brunet smiled at the group. "Yep, you know, staying in shape."

Minho nodded. "Nice man. Hey, do you know if we got practice tom-”

"Ladies and gentlemen, will you please all take a seat on the chairs instead of on the tables and pay attention, please? Class is about to start."

Everyone nodded and sat down at the tables, the conversation now in hushed whispers. 

Thomas and Newt both got off the table and Thomas was going to sit down next to Frypan, but Newt stopped him by a pull on his arm.

The guy looked surprised and opened his mouth to say something, but Newt leaned in, whispering in a low voice. "You owe me."

Thomas just smiled in response and whispered back, very close to his face. "I do. Seriously, thanks."

Newt let go of his arm and backed up again, walking to Minho and the empty seat next to him. "Don't get used to it."

Thomas sat down as well, smirking at him. "Oh, I definitely won't."

"Good." 

"Isaacs!"

He immediately shut up and turned to his table, but the smile played around his lips again when he saw Thomas glancing at him. 

"Lovebird," Minho whispered in his ear.

Newt threw a pen in his face. 

-

Lunch was great. And that said in a completely non-sarcastic way. 

Everyone was nice and they all talked and laughed with each other. He had fun. 

Ben and Thomas were immensely awkward, but Newt guessed that if you didn't know what happened yesterday you'd think they just had a small disagreement. No-one commented on it. 

Because Ben and Thomas were obviously not sitting next to each other, Thomas sat right in front of Newt. And it was pretty... fun? For as far you could have fun with Thomas. At least they didn't kick each other under the table, even though Newt had sincerely thought about it when Thomas had made another stupid comment. 

After a while, he did feel a kick against his leg, and his head shot up to find the culprit. He soon found it when he saw Thomas innocently batting his unfairly long eyelashes.

He gritted his teeth and kicked back, maybe a little too hard. Seriously? The guy really couldn't think of another way to get his attention like, for example, _talking_?

Thomas gasped. "Hey!"

"What do you want?" 

Thomas tilted his head. "Study again after PE? Mrs. Morris is sick so we don't have chemistry after that.

"Yeah, s'okay." Newt responded. Little did Thomas know he wasn't participating in PE.

"Great. Looking forward to it." The sarcasm dripped from his voice, and Newt bit his lip to keep himself from smiling because as mean as the comment maybe was, he knew that it wasn't a 100% genuine. 

"Yeah, it's the highlight of my week." He deadpanned back, stuffing a bite of a sandwich in his mouth. 

"What is?" Brenda asked them, interrupting her conversation with Harriet and Sonya. 

Newt opened his mouth to respond, but Minho winked at her. "Oh, just their usual study date."

Rolling his eyes, he stole a quick glance at Thomas who was doing the same. 

Brenda sounded very excited. "Ah, how fun, a new couple in our group."

Newt's eyebrows probably reached his hairline and wanted to spit out all the insults he had about Thomas to make sure that that was never, _ever_ , ever going to happen. 

But then the guy grabbed his bloody hand, grinning at him. Newt heart jumped in disgust and surprise, but thankfully Thomas had a dry palm, not a sweaty one. And well, his hands weren't the worst thing ever to look at. 

"Yeah, we have to tell you guys something..." The guy said in the most fake-excited voice ever.

Everyone erupted in laughter.

Well, except for Ben. He just held his eyes on the linked hands.

Thomas seemed like he didn't notice and gave Newt's hand a squeeze, winking at him.

Newt kicked him under the table and retracted his hand as fast as humanly possible.

Thomas grinned at him and licked his lips. 'I was kidding.' He mouthed.

'No shit.' Newt commented, unimpressed. 'I hate you.’

And Thomas, being the little shit that he was just blew him a kiss. 

Minho was going to tease him about this forever. 

-

Newt liked all kinds of music. He didn't really get the hype over Post Malone; his music wasn't bad, but also not mindblowing, but aside from that, he almost liked everything. 

Rap, pop, acoustic, and yeah, that were actually all the genres he could name. Oh yeah, and recently he'd discovered k-pop, because Minho had practically forced it on him. But after a few songs he found himself jamming to almost every beat. 

Bobbing his head to 'In my feelings' from Drake, he was making his homework for English. 

He'd skipped PE because his leg was acting up again, so he couldn't really do anything else than sit on the bench and watch others run laps. And that was something labeled 'wasting time' in his mind, so he decided to be a good student and actually do his homework. 

Thomas timed his arrival perfectly; just when he'd written down the last answer. He put the books back in his bag and grabbed his French books. 

When Thomas noticed him, he waved and walked over to Newt. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Hey, why weren't you there?"

Newt shrugged. "My leg was hurting."

The guy sat down next to him and seemed intrigued by the topic because he glanced down and cocked his head. "Oh, yeah, right. How did that happen?"

Newt smiled sadly. He should've known this question would come sometime, and he should learn to handle it better; to not show any traces of weakness or lying on his face. But well, after a few years, he'd mastered it pretty well. It was only occasionally, when people asked about it, that he just shut down. But now his voice felt steady enough to use the excuse he uses for most people, and he thinks he'd also manage to sound indifferent about it. He hoped so, anyway, because there's no way in hell he was going to tell Thomas the whole story. 

"Was an incident a few years ago. Broke it in a few different places. It healed, but I'll always have a limp."

Thomas made a face. "Ouch. Does it hurt a lot?"

Shrugging, Newt tapped on his leg. "Well, I have weeks where I basically don't feel it, like it never happened, but other days I can barely walk on it. So, you know, sometimes it does and sometimes not."

Thomas huffed a laugh. "That sucks."

He clicked his teeth. "Yeah, it does."

_And it's my own fault._

Thomas looked at his leg for a little while before grabbing his bag and getting the books out. "Soo," he started, and Newt thought his voice sounded a little too proud, "I know all the vocabulary."

Yeah, he had the right to be proud. 

"What? That was like... a lot."

Thomas rolled his eyes. "Uh, yeah, I know. Was at it the whole evening yesterday, but, I did it." Victoriously, he held the lists up.

Newt had to admit, he was impressed. Learning verbs was hard, even for him, so he admired Thomas' determination that even after that thing yesterday afternoon he still-

"Speaking of yesterday," He started, and Thomas already let out a groan, "have you talked to Ben yet?"

The brunet banged his head on the table. "Come ooon, we agreed not to talk about it."

Newt sighed. "Yeah, I know, but still. You're going to have to talk to him someday."

"I don't want toooo."

Newt patted his back. "Man up a little."

Thomas scoffed. "If that means I need to talk to him, then no, I'll stay small forever."

Rolling his eyes, Newt contemplated what to do. Thomas had to talk to Ben, even though he didn't want to, for the sake of the group dynamic. 

"Then do it for _me_." He feigned innocently.

Thomas raised an eyebrow from his position still on the table. "And why the hell would I do something for you?"

Newt batted his eyelashes and leaned forward on his palms. "Cuz you _love_ me."

Not surprisingly, the guy sat back up and laughed. He patted Newt's shoulder. "Yeah, keep dreaming, buddy."

The urge to kick the guy came up again, but this time it was Newt who started it, so that'd be a little mean right?

Thomas chuckled again and then opened his books. Meanwhile, Newt was way too busy finding another solution. He didn't have any classes left with Ben, and he also didn't have the guy's number so he could text him to meet Thomas-

But the brunet had ben's number. Within a second he'd located the phone, just lying there on the table. If he could just grab it...

Quickly, he shot forward and snatched the phone from the table. He jumped up and ran to the corner of the library, Thomas chasing him, yelling all kinds of protests.

"Newt, Newt! Give it back!"

Newt smirked and turned to Thomas, who was standing with his hand out. "Give me my phone."

"Nope."

Thomas scoffed and then crossed his arms, seeming to relax a little. "Fine, whatever. You don't know my code anyways."

Shit. 

That was something he'd forgotten about.

But come on, it was Thomas. Couldn't be that hard right? The guy would probably forget it if it contained more than 2 different numbers. 

So, smirking, he typed in the first thing that came to mind. '0000'

And the phone unlocked. 

He waggled his eyebrows at the boy, who just stared at him. 

"Wh- how did you know that?"

Newt smirked and clicked on the message icon. "I can read your mind, so I'd watch it with the dirty thoughts if I were you."

Thomas waggled his eyebrows briefly at that, before he seemed to remember again that Newt had his unlocked phone in his hands. He stepped closer to him and tried to pry the phone from his hands. Newt just held it high above his head, relishing the fact that he was slightly taller than Thomas.

Thomas jumped and pulled at his arm, but to no avail; Newt kept the phone tightly in his hand. He chuckled at Thomas' attempt to get the thing. 

"What, can't I read your conversations with Ben?"

Thomas' eyes widened and he seemed to be in complete panic, taking a step back. "Oh my god, Newt, no, please give it to me."

Newt smirked again. It was not like he was planning to actually read it; he'd rather die than accidentally see pictures or read dirty texts. "Is it that secretive?"

Nodding furiously, Thomas stepped into his personal space. "Please, you can't read it."

He sighed and eventually gave in, handing the phone back to Thomas. "Fine. But you owe me. Three times."

The brunet sighed in relief and snatched the phone from him. 

"But you are going to text him."

Thomas scoffed. "No."

"Yes, you are." Newt stared him down.

After a few seconds, Thomas gritted his teeth. "Fuck you." He turned around and started tapping on his phone. 

"Deal," Newt answered, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was texting; he didn't trust the guy to actually send the right thing.

Thomas immediately shielded his phone away from his sight so that he couldn't read the previous messages and Newt rolled his eyes. He put a hand on the screen so he didn't see the conversation and only saw the keyboard, and only then Thomas relaxed again. 

"I can handle some sexting, y'know."

Thomas' mouth opened. Then it closed. Then it opened again. "What?! We're not, we don't... It's not"

"Uhu." Newt patted him on the shoulder and apparently, Thomas just gave up, because he sighed and went back to the texting. 

After three times typing and deleting, Newt got fed up with it. "Just send: Wanna talk about yesterday, can you come to the library in an hour?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Send it."

The third frustrated sigh left the guy's lips, but he typed what Newt'd said. 

When he was done, they walked back to their table. "Well, was that so hard?"

Thomas shot him a glare. "Fuck off."

Grinning, Newt opened his books. His newfound ability to annoy Thomas was very welcomed. He received the exercises Thomas had made last time and was about to check them when the guy next to him suddenly caught his attention. 

"Hey, what did you mean by 'you owe me three times'?"

Newt leaned back in his chair, turning to him. "Well, one time for covering your ass this morning. Second time for handing you your phone and not reading your sexts," Thomas already opened his mouth to protest, but he continued, "And the third time for this." He shoved up his sleeve a bit, revealing the bruise on his upper arm where Thomas had slapped him yesterday. 

“Did I do this?” The guy asked, voice soft and eyes wide.

Newt laughed. “Yep. Got a few on my chest too.”

“Oh my god! I am so sorry,” Thomas put a hand on the bruise while rambling all kinds of apologies, “I never meant to do that, I was just… I don’t know okay, but I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to- you helped me so nicely, shit…”

Newt raised an exasperated eyebrow at him. 

Thomas took a deep breath and put his hand on Newt’s shoulder. “I am so sorry, Newt.”

Newt really couldn’t help but roll his eyes. It was nice that Thomas was apologizing, but he didn’t have to. Newt took it on himself to ‘help’ him, and that was a calculated risk. He didn’t mind. A few days and they’d be gone. They didn't even hurt that much.

He only pointed it out because he was curious what Thomas would do to pay off his debts.

But it still was really nice he apologized. 

He shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and hit Thomas playfully in the chest. “Dude, it’s fine. Not your fault.”

“Uh, yes it is?”

Newt leaned forward and forced Thomas’ eyes to look nowhere else but his, lowering his voice. 

“Thomas, you had a panic attack yesterday and you didn’t know what you were doing when you accidentally hit me. I don’t blame you. If anything, it’s my own fault for trying to keep you still.”

“Yeah, but-”

Newt put up a hand. “Don’t. That’s the truth, and I don’t want to hear any more apologies. Understood?”

After a few seconds of silence, Thomas finally nodded, a small smile creeping up his face. “Okay.”

Sighing, Newt gave him a final nod and then went to checking the exercises. Thomas went to something what looked like physics, and they worked in silence for a while. What Newt didn’t want to admit was that he actually didn’t hate the company. 

-

After a while, Thomas had started scrolling on Instagram, but Newt cut him some slack; the guy almost filled in every sentence correctly.

When he’d went through every single one, he nudged Thomas and he showed what he’d done wrong. 

“Okay, so this one, we have spoken, you don’t have to add an –s, because you use avoir instead of être. So it becomes nous avons parlé.

He scribbled down the answer and Thomas nodded understandingly. “Okay, but when do I use être and when avoir?”

Newt tore a sheet from Thomas’ notebook, earning a ‘hey!’, and scribbled the verbs down.

“Okay, so I remembered them by using the ‘être-house’. With all the words involving the house, you use être, and with the others you just use avoir.”

Thomas shrugged and took the paper from him, reading them over a few times. “’K. I’ll try.”

Newt huffed and then went on to the next mistake. “You were just really stupid here, you forgot to add the –s.”

Thomas groaned and buried his head in his hands. “God, I’ll never be able to do this.” He glanced sideways at Newt. “How are you so good at this anyway?”

Newt sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in his lap and looking at Thomas. 

“Well, when we lived back in England-”

He was interrupted when Thomas suddenly gasped and broke out into a burst of laughter. He frowned at the boy, feeling a little confused, and in return, he got a shake of a head. 

“No, dude, never mind. I just, completely forgot you were from England.”

Newt laughed as well. “You haven’t noticed my accent at all?”

Thomas licked his lips with a smile, something he did a lot when he was amused, Newt noticed. “Yeah, no, it’s just, never really thought about it much. It… suits you.”

Newt pursed his lips to stop himself from laughing again. “Shall I continue or do you want to keep complimenting me? Because then by all means…”

He earned a shove at his shoulder. Shaking his head, he started talking again. 

“Okay, so when I still lived back in England,”

“Uhuuu,”

“When we lived there, we used to go to France a lot.”

Thomas tilted his head as if to ask why, and Newt elaborated. “My dad had a job there. He had to travel between France and England a lot, y’know. So then when we had a holiday we used to go there every time. I spent whole summers there. And then you pick up some things.”

Thomas nodded understandingly. “Huh, sounds cool.” He squinted at his lap for a moment and then turned back to Newt. “Why did you move here anyways? I mean, America is great, but it sucks.”

Laughing, Newt hesitated if he should tell that. But it wasn’t a secret anyways, so Thomas could find out easily. 

“My mom moved to England for my dad, but then they got a divorce,” He swallowed, looking down. He’d told this so many times, but it stayed hard. “My mom got a job offer here, so we moved. My dad stayed in England.”

Thomas frowned, an empathic look on his face. “Oh… Do you see your dad a lot?”

Newt shrugged. “Once a year at a family meeting.”

“Wow…” Thomas bit his lip, “I’m sorry.”

Scoffing, Newt shook his head. “Don’t be. He’s a dick.”

Thomas looked down as well, a brief silence falling in between the two. “How come?” The question was cautious as if he didn't want to hit a sensitive nerve. And normally, Newt would never answer this to someone who's practically, but his gut told him that it was alright, so he let it out, leaning back more in his chair, trying to look unaffected by it. Even though he knew Thomas wouldn't judge anyways. 

“He was always working when I was a kid. Always away, always traveling and busy. Always yelled at my mom, never gave a shit about me, et cetera.” He sighed and turned to Thomas, who seemed like he had pity. 

“I’m-”

“Don’t,” Newt pointed a finger at him, “say you’re sorry.”

Thomas laughed, and after a few beats, he put a hand on Newt’s shoulder, sending him a reassuring nod. "That sucks man.”

Newt smiled at him, not really shrugging off the hand on his shoulder. That was sweet. “So, what about you? Any sad family stories?”

Slowly Thomas retracted his hand again, fingers lingering just a second. He seemed to be in thought for a while, and then smiled a little. “Well, you haven’t really unlocked that level of friendship yet.”

Newt shook his head and barked a laugh. He got it, of course, Thomas didn’t want to tell him his dramas, they were practically strangers (okay not that much but still.) But even though he understood and respected that choice; he’d never meant to pry, he couldn’t help but hurt a _little_ bit. 

Still, he managed a smile. “No, it’s fine. I get it that you don’t want to tell me.”

As expected, Thomas immediately started apologizing. “No, no that’s not it. It’s not because it’s you that I don’t want to tell you, just…” He trailed off, vaguely gesturing with his hand in the air. “Kinda personal. Haven’t told my own friends all of it either.”

Newt patted his shoulder. “That’s okay. But let me know when I’ve reached that level of friendship, so you can tell me then. I'm a good listener.” Why exactly he was offering Thomas this was a big mystery, but for some reason, his heart did a weird thing when he thought about Thomas hurting; yesterday in the bathroom, now, when he felt like he couldn't tell him anything. 

And it was ridiculous that he felt that way, because he hated the guy. _Hated._

“Yeah, deal.” Thomas smiled a little, in a polite, happy way, when it suddenly changed into something smug. “Wait, does that mean you want to become friends?”

Yeah, sure.

That was his first instinct.

Shit.

Thankfully he then realized it was Thomas, and that he _hated_ , just like he'd told himself several seconds ago as well. 

He shoved the guy. “No. Let’s just forget I ever said that.”

And Thomas just grinned at him, like he had read his mind. Fucking bastard. 

“Shut up, let’s get back to work.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” Thomas grinned, looking so damn happy with himself.

“You were about to.”

“True.”

-

After about 30 minutes, Thomas wordlessly grabbed a protein bar out of his bag and started munching on it. Newt really tried not to look at the thing and to ignore the way he was actually pretty hungry, but when Thomas eventually shot him an amused look, he knew he’d failed. 

After another bite, the guy wordlessly held the rest of the bar out for him. Newt raised an eyebrow. Was he offering…? He wanted to take it. He really did. It looked delicious; the creamy cookie dough color, the pieces of chocolate in it, the drizzle of brown gooiness… 

But he couldn’t. Because they weren’t friends. 

He pulled a disgusted face at Thomas and shook his head. The guy didn’t really seem to mind; he just shrugged with a smile and took another bite, going back to his work again. 

“Your loss, Newtie.”

Newt closed his eyes and elbowed him in the ribs.

-

The hour passed quickly. Newt helped Thomas with his exercises and then explained the next piece of grammar; the imparfait. The guy was in fact a lot smarter than he seemed. He picked up the new things pretty quickly and asked it when he didn’t understand something. Then after a proper explanation, he immediately did it right. He was a pleasant student. 

A pull on Thomas’ arm and a glance at his wrist told Newt that Ben would almost arrive. They closed off the topic and packed their books, Thomas leaning back in his chair when he was done. 

Newt stood up and grabbed his backpack, ready to leave and give Thomas and Ben some privacy, only to find Thomas staring up at him like a little puppy who just got his toy taken away.

"You're leaving?"

Newt shrugged and readjusted the backpack on his shoulder. "Uh, yes?" When he saw Thomas' face go _oh_ , he added, "Why, you want me to stay?"

And _that_ blush on the guy's face was something he'd remember until the day he died. Thomas immediately recoiled and shook his head furiously, laughing and gesturing around wildly. "No, No! No of course not, why would I, like, that's not-"

"Thomas."

The boy took a deep breath. "No, you can leave. Really."

He seemed like he really meant it, but Newt was obviously a little shit, so he put down his backpack again, rolling his shoulders. "You know what, I think I'll stay." He had some homework for Math left to do, so whether he did that at home or at school didn't matter that much.

"No, really, you can leave. I _want_ you to leave." The way his voice wavered at the last bit told Newt all he needed to know. 

Newt sat down and shot him a look, and Thomas immediately shut up, shaking his head. 

"Whatever. Stay if you want."

Newt smiled at his victory, and they sat in silence for a few seconds. Thomas seemed jittery like he always did, but this time it was worse

“So,” Newt started, carefully glancing at Thomas, “Ben can be here any minute."

Thomas sighed as if he was in pain and buried his head in his hands. "I know, fuck my life." He glanced at him, "I mean, what do I say to him?"

Newt shrugged. "Just tell him that you overreacted because he said something that triggered you. Same thing you said to me yesterday."

Thomas stared off in the distance for a while, biting his lip. "Yeah, but that's not that easy. He'll want to know why that triggered me and..."

He would've loved to hear what Thomas was about to say, but then he saw Ben walking into the library, looking gorgeous as ever. He understood Thomas had a crush on the boy. He nudged Thomas with his elbow. 

"Looks you don't have much time to think about it anymore."

Thomas frowned at him and followed his gaze, only to land on Ben. Newt saw him swallow and that spark he constantly had when looking at the boy wasn't there anymore. Oh. No crush anymore?

"Fuck."

Ben started walking towards them when he'd found the pair, and his face immediately fell a little. Newt wondered why.

Thomas seemed to panic more and more with the second, so Newt put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Hey, don't worry, it'll be fine. You have been friends for a long time, that's not just gone."

Thomas nodded, as if to convince himself and then turned to Newt, smiling gratefully. "Thanks."

Newt opened his mouth to respond, but Ben arrived at their table, a wary look on his face. "Hey." He said to Thomas, only acknowledging Newt with a short nod. He nodded back. 

Thomas took a deep breath, and only then Newt realized his hand was still on his shoulder, so he retraced it like the guy's skin had burned him. Ben glanced at it briefly, his eyes accusatory, like Newt had stolen something. 

Oh _shit._

_Oh no_.

Slowly the realization hit Newt. Ben was jealous of him. Because he was with Thomas. But he wasn't. He hated the guy. But Ben apparently thought he didn't. He groaned inwardly and immediately decided that he wouldn't touch Thomas in front of Ben ever again. 

While Newt was in his inner monologue, he missed the staring contest between the boy's next to him. His eyes skipped from Ben to Thomas a few times before one of the two spoke up. 

"Tom, can I talk to you for a second?"

Newt didn't miss the way the nickname was pronounced way too possessive. He rolled his eyes at it. As if he would ever give Thomas a nickname. He thought nicknames were stupid. 

Thomas nodded and crossed his arms. "Yeah, go ahead."

Ben sighed and nodded towards Newt. "Alone?"

Newt was about to excuse himself and grab his stuff, because he had a feeling he did not want to be there, but Thomas spoke up. 

"Newt can hear everything. He can stay."

He really, really tried not to raise his eyebrows in surprise because...wow? That was actually really nice. He didn't know Thomas thought about him that way. 

A jealous look washed over Ben's face and Newt really wanted to crawl in a hole when he thought about what Ben must think of them when they were at their study date. 

He actually thought about staying, because Thomas was so convinced he could, but when he saw the pleading look on Ben's face, he stood up. He grabbed his bag and was about to walk away, when suddenly a warm hand gripped his wrist, fingers curling around it.

Thomas looked up at him with big eyes, only screaming _don't leave me alone_ , but Newt knew what to do. These boys had to talk it out together, not with other people who could listen.

So he pulled his wrist free and leaned over to Thomas, putting his hands on the guy's shoulders. He whispered in his ear in a low voice, just low enough that Ben couldn't hear it. 

"Come on. You can do this; just tell him the truth. I'll wait at one of the tables in the back, okay? Scream if you need me."

Thomas nodded and looked him in the eyes for a second and wow, that was really, really close. Newt didn't flinch away though. He gave his shoulders one last squeeze and then walked over to the tables in the back. 

When he sat down he saw Ben doing the same next to Thomas, putting an arm around him. The way Thomas flinched away from the touch even hurt Newt. 

He put in his earbuds and put Spotify up, making his Math homework. If he had to wait like he'd said, he'd better make his time useful.

Ben and Thomas seemed to be in a pretty heated conversation soon, and he just shook his head and focused on his own again. It was none of his business. 

-

After 15 minutes Newt glanced up again, only to see Thomas and Ben hugging. The sad thing was that when they pulled back, the spark and smile on Thomas' face was gone; now replaced by a polite one. A smile you only smiled to friends, nothing more. It was really awkward to see that spark still on Ben's face, while on Thomas' it was gone. 

They said their goodbyes and then Ben walked away, looking content but sad. Once Ben started walking, Thomas immediately turned around to find Newt. When he saw him, his whole face lit up. 

Newt cleaned up his table and shut off his music, walking up to Thomas to meet him halfway. 

Thomas smiled and seemed a little surprised, turning around so that they were walking the same way. "You're still here."

Newt chuckled and fell into step next to him. "I said I would be, didn't I?"

Glancing to the side, Thomas pursed his lips. "Yeah, I know. I just, I didn't think you'd really do it."

"Well, what can I say. I keep my promises."

"Thanks." Thomas smiled gratefully, and for some reason it made Newt want to reach out and ruffle his hair or something equally idiotic. He immediately diminished the thought. 

"You're welcome." He gave Thomas a small shove, to touch at least in some way. He hated himself for it. "So, how did it go?"

The boy next to him sighed. "Good, I guess. I mean, we're friends again."

Okay, that was a good thing. "And are you guys back on again for tomorrow?" He couldn't help but ask. 

With the way his eyes widened, Thomas looked like he just got caught doing something illegal. He started blushing furiously and shook his head to the floor. "Nah, that's uh- we're not doing that anymore."

He hated his own curiosity and the way he wanted to make Thomas uncomfortable, but he asked anyway, not stopping the smirk on his face. "What were you guys going to do?"

Thomas shot him a suspicious look, like he knew what he was up to, but then he shrugged. "Just, hang out, y'know."

"Hmhmm..."

He deserved the look Thomas shot him. 

The rest of the walk back to their cars was in silence, apart from the occasional humming from Thomas. It was not awkward, again, and Newt started to think he didn't have to worry about that with Thomas anymore. It seemed chill. He seemed chill. But of course, the guy had to break the silence by asking a question Newt couldn't really answer.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Treating me like a human being? Like someone you... care about?"

Uh.

Newt didn't know either. 

Or actually, he did know, but he did not want to admit it.

So he just scoffed and shot Thomas a confused look. "I do not."

The guy next to him chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, you kinda do."

Newt sighed and rolled his eyes. Fuck. He turned to Thomas. "Okay, so maybe I realized that," he vaguely gestured around, "you aren't as bad as I originally thought."

The way Thomas' face completely lit up made him want to punch the guy. Repeatedly.

"But, I still don't like you."

Thomas just nodded with a gigantic smile, but thankfully shut up the rest of the way to the car. When they arrived there, Thomas turned to Newt. 

"I'm glad you don't hate me anymore." The guy ruffled his hair godfuckingdammit, and then smiled brightly. "Bye Newt, have a nice weekend."

Newt slapped the hand away, ducking away from the touch, but he couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you too Tommy."

Fuck. 

No. 

Shit.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit.

How the hell could he give him a nickname how in the fucking world- … it fit him though.

Thomas turned around so slowly, but with such a smug smile on his face, and Newt just wanted to crawl in a hole and die, thank you very much. 

"What did you say?"

Even though Newt knew he was blushing furiously, he decided to play innocent. "What? Nothing."

Thomas stepped forward and nodded accusatorily. "Yes, you did."

Newt rolled his eyes, a feeble attempt at trying to hide his embarrassment. "I said you too, Thomas."

Thomas snorted and took a few steps backward, waving at him. "Yeah, whatever you say, Newtie."

Newt really wanted to disappear. "I hate you!"

Thomas laughed and walked to his car, his back towards Newt and his keys in the hand above his head. "No, you don't!"

"I do!" Newt yelled after him.

He did. 

Kinda. 

 

*cough cough*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeeeeeeeeehhhhh yeah so newt needs to man tf up and not be stupid anymore


	7. So yeah uhm maybe you're fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding. That's literally all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hoes it is i.
> 
> apologizing for the incredibly long wait, i dont have much to say :( more in the notes down below xoxox
> 
> enjoy readidng <3
> 
> (oh and also im so incredibly sorry for not replying to your comments, i read them all but i just kinda forgot OOOOPPSSSS IM SO SORRY but i still appreciate it lOTS)

#### Monday - October 8th

Newt spent the whole Saturday with his friends and Frypan, a nice addition to the group. They just chilled and talked and ate and laughed all day, and it was amazing. 

Sunday was fantastic as well, because he spent until 1 PM in bed, and then he hung around the whole day with his parents. Well, actually, his mom and his step-dad Steve, but he was such a great guy and Newt would choose him any day over his actual father, so he called him their parents. 

They got take out from his favorite Sushi place and watched movies together. Thanks to Thomas and Ben he didn't have any homework left to do; he'd done it Friday.

So let's say he went to school in a really good mood. 

Until lunch it was great as well. He was paying attention in class, fooling around with Minho and whispering with Teresa. 

But then he had lunch.

He sat right in front of Thomas, which was fairly manageable. He talked with him and Minho about everything and nothing, and it was actually fun. Maybe he was really realizing Thomas wasn't that bad. 

After a while, Minho got into a conversation with Gally, and Newt was left with Thomas. That was when it all went to shit. Well, not really. It was pretty hilarious. But also disgusting.

"You want to study again after school?"

Thomas shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Let's have fun, Newtie."

Gritting his teeth, he really tried not to kick the guy under the table. Instead, he threw a tiny piece of bread at him. "Fuck off."

Thomas gasped and then grinned brightly. "Oh you brought it upon yourself." And before Newt could even react, there was a string of spaghetti slung at him. He gasped as well and threw some of his food back, not stopping the grin on his face. 

“Dude,” Thomas laughed and threw his own half of a sandwich back, the tomatoes falling on Newt’s face.

“Oh, I’m gonna kill you,” Newt wheezed, throwing everything in sight, trying to hit Thomas the best he could. 

It was only when Brenda yelled "Stop it!" before the two of them stopped throwing things, both having cramps from the laughter and grinning like idiots. Newt grinned up at Thomas, who's hands were covered in sauce. His hair was a mess with crumbs in it all over, and he had a few smudges of sauce on his cheek. 

Newt himself was confident to say he wasn't that clean either, but he didn't really care. It had been fun. 

The whole table studied them with twisted smiles, and it was only then when Newt realized he'd had a food fight with Thomas. He didn't even dare to look at Ben. Or at Minho. 

Brenda shook her head fondly. "Thomas, go clean yourself up. You look like shit."

Newt shot Thomas one last smirk. "Yeah, Tom-” shit shit shit, “Thomas, you look like shit."

The guy bit his lip and smirked knowingly. “What, no Tommy anymore?”

Newt felt the heat rising to his cheeks, but tried to shrug it off as casually as possible. “Shut up.”

“Aww, but I liked Tommy.” Thomas blinked innocently.

Newt kicked him again under the table. That fucking dick. “If you say that name one more time I’m going to kill you.”

Chuckling, Thomas stood up. “Hmhmm, sure Newtie.” He winked at him and then turned around, walking off to the bathroom, leaving a fuming Newt behind. He quickly inspected his clothes, only to see that they weren’t that dirty. There were only a few crumbs here and there, the rest was on the ground due to Thomas' perfect aim. He brushed off his hands on his jeans and pulled the string of spaghetti out of his hair. 

Minho turned to him, an incredulous smirk on his face. "So, Tommy?”

The girls seemed to take interest as well. “Yeah Newt, tell us about that.” Harriet batted her eyelashes innocently.

Taking a shaky breath in, he shook his head. “Shut up.”

“So you don’t hate him anymore?” Brenda smirked, waggling her eyebrows. 

“Yes, I do.” Newt said resolutely.

The group next to him burst out laughing and Minho whispered to the girls. “Yeah, they definitely like each other.”

Oh my god.

And judging by the look on Ben’s face, he’d heard that too. This would be a perfect time to die. 

“I do not!”

The girls just giggled and went back to their own conversations. Minho patted him on his back. “It’s okay dude. I believe you.” 

Newt shot him a look and Minho burst out laughing. 

Shoving the guy, he and tried very hard to ignore the fluttering feeling in his stomach. He wasn't friends with Thomas. He hated the guy and Thomas hated him back. 

…

Okay, so maybe, Deep down, he knew that wasn't true. But he desperately clung on to that truth. He didn't really know why though. 

After a few minutes, Thomas came back, looking as fresh as ever. He sat down in front of him again. "I definitely won that."

Newt scoffed and shook his head. "Oh, you definitely did not."

Thomas grinned. "A tie then."

"Fine" He gritted out.

Thomas just shook his head with a smile and turned to Brenda to follow the conversation she was having with Harriet and Sonya. It was then when Newt saw the smudge of sauce still on his cheek, and it annoyed him. 

He lightly kicked Thomas' shin under the table again. The guy looked up in surprise, tilting his head when he saw that it had been Newt. 

Newt gestured to his cheek. "You missed some."

"Oh." The brunet used his sleeve to wipe it away, but he kept missing the spot. "Better?"

Newt shook his head. Thomas wiped again. And again. And he missed it, again. Eventually, Newt got fed up with it. He didn't really know what came over him, but he leaned across the table and stretched out his hand, wiping it away. 

Thomas looked at him with wonder, maybe even awe, and Newt knew he started blushing. The skin was smooth and a little warm under his fingertips, and he tried really hard to ignore the tingling in his fingers. It felt comfy, good. 

When the smudge was gone, he sat back again, not acknowledging the whole table staring at them. Thomas just smiled. Not his usual smile, but a shy one; grateful. "Thanks."

Newt ignored the fact that he probably had cheeks as red as a tomato, and shook his head. "No problem."

He saw Thomas squint a little and then the boy gestured to his forehead. "Uh, you got some too."

Newt raised his eyebrows and wiped at it with the back of his hand, but of course, he didn't get it. The boy across of him grinned and shook his head, slowly reaching forward, so that Newt could back out any moment.

He didn't.

He let Thomas wipe the sauce away, and when he was done, they both burst out laughing again. 

Newt really didn’t know what to think. We’re they becoming… friends? No. No, they weren’t. Thomas was annoying.

Fuck. 

Thankfully the bell rang to avoid any awkward conversations, and he stood up, ignoring any amused glances from Minho.

He passed Thomas on his way to class; the boy just stood up himself as well. Newt bumped their shoulders together. "Asshole."

Thomas smirked back and shoved him to the side. "Dick."

Newt shook his head with a grin and walked next to Thomas the whole way to class.

-

After Biology, both Thomas and Newt were done with their classes and they were on their way to the library to do French. Thomas had been sighing and grunting all the way, and Newt really, really tried to ignore it, but eventually gave in. 

"Okay, I'll bite. What's wrong?"

Thomas sighed again and started walking a little slower. "I don't want this."

Newt scoffed. Yeah, he totally understood that. It wasn't fun to study something. But he still couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Their meetings hadn't been that bad, right? He didn't really want to admit it, but he didn't mind tutoring Thomas as much as he'd thought.

"Yeah, me neither."

Thomas' head snapped up after a beat. "No, I didn't mean I don't want this," he gestured between them, "but I meant like, I don't want to go to that damn library again. It's cold there and it smells like feet."

Newt chuckled. He had a point there. "Well, where do you want to go then? It's way too cold outside, and we also can't sit in the school."

"Yeah, we'll be sent away," Thomas agreed, seeming to think hard. Suddenly, this look passed over his face, and Newt knew he had to be worried. 

"And my dad's home as well, so we can't go there either..." The guy looked up at him, this small smirk on his face. 

Shit. 

Thomas wanted to go to his house. 

Yeah.... No

Or actually,

Why not?

It was comfy at his house; it was warm, smelled nice, they had food and drinks. What was the big disadvantage? He didn't really know. 

He rolled his eyes and pulled at Thomas' arm, turning them around. "That way."

Thomas frowned at him but didn't struggle in his grip. "Why? Where are we going?"

"My place."

The way Thomas' face lit up like a puppy that just got a treat was precious. "Really?"

"Don't make me change my mind," Newt answered, rolling his eyes. 

Thomas wouldn't change his mind. 

They walked to their cars, and Thomas had been smiling like an overexcited puppy the whole way. It annoyed Newt. And it was also maybe a tiny bit cute.

But cute and Thomas in one sentence just excluded each other, so he immediately diminished the thought. 

"Just ride behind me, alright? It's like a five-minute drive."

Thomas nodded and then they both got in their cars, riding to Newt's house. 

He shook his head once he was alone. What the hell had he gotten himself into? 

Then he shrugged, looking in the rearview mirror, only to see Thomas driving behind him. Oh well, he just had to make the best out of it, right?

-

Thomas parked his car next to him in the driveway and stepped out of it with raised eyebrows. Newt guided them through the front door, and the look on the brunet’s face was hilarious. 

Newt threw his jacket on the floor and gestured for Thomas to do the same, but the guy shrugged it off and hung it on the coat rack. Scoffing fondly, he lead the two of them to the living room.

Okay, this wasn’t weird at all. Thomas in his house. Not at all.

The brunet trailed behind him like a shy puppy, fiddling with his hands a little. On one hand, Newt kind of wanted to slap him for it and trade him for the Thomas he knew; not shy at all, funny and just open; extrovert, but on the other hand, it was fun seeing this side of him every once in a while. 

“Dude, your _house_ ,” Thomas whispered when they were standing in the living room. 

Newt glanced at the boy who was looking around the room with wide eyes filled with adoration. He chuckled. This was the reaction he mostly got. His mom was a surgeon and his stepdad wasn’t that poor either, so they got a pretty nice house. 

Windows were almost covering all walls, everything white, marble and wood. But it was very cozy. Newt sometimes found that in a lot of other big houses it was always very cold. Not cold as in temperature, but cold as in ambiance. His house wasn’t. It was amazing; big couches with pillows and blankets, a large kitchen with wooden doors, a fireplace. He loved it. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice.”

Thomas finally looked at him again, for the first time since they’d entered the house, and Newt saw the barricade fall off. 

“Nice? Dude, it’s amazing! Look around.” He gestured around wildly with his arms. “How can you not like, freak out every time you come in?”

Newt wanted to answer, but suddenly Nancy came jumping out of nowhere, making Thomas fall on the floor. The guy didn’t seem to mind though, as he started laughing and scratched her back, not minding the licking that took place. 

Newt smiled at the scene in front of him and at Thomas who was cooing Nancy with the stupidest sentences ever, but it didn’t matter because the dog just kept waggling her tail and sniffing his face, body curving into Thomas’ hands. 

Newt crouched down and Nancy immediately took notice. She leaped off Thomas and started nudging his leg. Newt smiled and scratched her behind her ear; she always liked that. 

“Hey little girl, hello cutie,” Newt giggled when she licked his face, not caring that Thomas was literally half a meter away.

Thomas just smiled at him. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

_Well, duh, you barely know a thing about me at all_

“What’s her name?”

Newt gave her a kiss on top of her head, earning a lick on his nose. “Nancy.”

Thomas’ smile brightened. “She’s the cutest.”

Newt chuckled, gave her a last rub and stood up again. He considered for a moment to stretch out his hand and help Thomas up but then decided against it.

The guy quickly hopped on his feet and brushed his hands on his pants, his eyes bright, the energy around him vibrating with his usual excitement. “But dude! Your house! Why aren’t your friends here all the time?”

Laughing, Newt walked to the kitchen, gesturing for Thomas to follow him. “Well, they are, actually. When we hang out, it’s almost always at my place. And we're talking like 4 times a week. Sometimes they even crash here without me knowing it.” 

Thomas chuckled and followed him, completely his own self again. Newt felt strangely relieved.

“And about the freaking out part, I guess you get used to it. I’ve been living here since I was eleven.”

Nodding understandingly, Thomas leaned against the kitchen counter, quickly washing his hands. Newt did the same and rinsed his face as well to get rid of the dog saliva. He loved Nancy, but ew. He threw Thomas the towel when he was done. 

The guy caught it gracefully with one hand (of course). “But dude, it’s… amazing.”

“Yeah, it is.” Newt walked over to the cabinets and opened one. He was kind of done with talking about how cool his house was.

“You want something to drink?”

Thomas nodded. “Sure, whatever you got.”

Raising an exasperated eyebrow, Newt opened the fridge (soda’s, lemonades and juices), then the closet next to it (any, literally any alcohol) and then the drawer under it (teas). 

Thomas gaped. “Th- I- just,”

Newt gestured to everything. “Whatever you want.”

Shaking his head with a grin, Thomas walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a glass and a mug. He handed the mug to Newt and then wordlessly filled his glass with water, closing the fridge and the closet with alcohol in it again. The tea drawer was left open. 

Newt just watched the whole scene unfold before his eyes. He was surprised, to say at least. But he also liked people who felt at home; who just grabbed their stuff for themselves. He didn’t feel like mothering them around and constantly asking if they’d want something. That was the policy in his house: if you want something, food or drinks or whatever else, get it yourself, and if you don’t know where it is, you ask. 

And that wasn’t because he was lazy, but just because he wanted people to feel at home; big houses sometimes felt strange to people, and he wanted that to be reversed. 

Apparently, Thomas had caught on that pretty quickly. 

The brunet took a sip from his water and then pointed at the tea drawer and the mug he’d handed to Newt. “Figured you’d want tea.”

Pff, stereotypes. 

Not that it wasn’t true. 

He couldn't stop the grin and he leaned down to grab some tea. It was made quickly and then he turned to Thomas again, who silently had been sipping his water, hip against another counter. 

"Okay, I don't know if this is really rude and if it is, I'm sorry, but do you have something to eat? I'm kinda hungry."

Newt sighed in relief. He had the guts to ask that too. Thank god. He hated the people who just kept silent and spent the whole afternoon with cramps of hunger. 

"Of course it's not rude. What do want? Cookies, or chips or," he gave Thomas a once-over, "something healthy?"

Thomas acknowledged this with a grin and he filled his glass again. "Uh, you got something healthy?"

Newt laughed. "I knew it, with your apples and your protein bars, and that," He pointed at Thomas' abs that were visible through his tight shirt.

Thomas laughed as well and shrugged. "Well, it's not like I never eat unhealthy things. I mean, I like it. But I'm probably the only kid in America who doesn't crave it constantly. I like fruits and shit way better most of the time."

Huh. Something they had in common.

"Well, you're not the only one." Newt opened the fridge and got out a bowl of fruit. His mom was kind of a health freak. Not the one who only ate healthily, but mostly the food they made and had was good for you. 

That didn't stop them from getting pizza every week though. 

Thomas huffed and took the bowl from him. "Yeah, I can see that. You're like, super skinny."

Newt took a sip of his tea and eyed Thomas over the rim of his mug. "You know, skinny shaming is a thing. I could be very insecure about it."

As expected, Thomas immediately started apologizing, his cheeks reddening. "No, not like that I-I'm sorry, but I didn't mean it in a negative way you know. Just like, you're skinny. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean- you look,” he gestured to Newt’s body, “great. Y’know, you’re hot- no, shit I mean-"

Newt tried very, very hard to keep his laughter in, so he kept the mug in front of his lips. He was just innocently waiting for the moment Thomas would finally realize he was joking. He couldn't help but feel flattered at the compliment though. 

When Thomas finally caught on and saw Newt grinning, he kicked his shin. "Oh my god. You're mean. You suck."

"Sometimes I do, indeed." Newt shrugged, delighted by the way Thomas' face morphed into different expressions, all equally disgusted, amazed and surprised.

"Let's take this upstairs, yeah?" He asked, already walking towards the stairs. When he didn't hear anything following him, he turned back around. Thomas was still standing against the counter, his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his face. 

"Oh my- Not like _that_! Shut _up_."

Thomas just grinned and got the bowl and his glass of water, walking up to him. "Whatever you say, babe."

Newt gritted his teeth and walked behind Thomas up the stairs, grabbing their backpacks in the process. "You're never coming to my house again."

He saw Thomas stiffen for just a second, but then his shoulders loosened up again, apparently realizing Newt wasn't serious anyway. 

He wanted to be. 

But he had to be honest with himself; it was probably going to happen again. 

And it wouldn't be the worst thing ever.

So sighing, he trailed behind Thomas together with Nancy, walking up to his room. 

-

Thomas almost had the same reaction as he had had for the living room as for his room. 

Newt chuckled a little at it but also felt ashamed. 

"Dude, your room. It's- holy shit. I don't even have words."

Newt sat down at his desk. Yeah, his room was great. A king size bed in the middle of it, a desk, a sofa, a tv, a big desk, his own bathroom. But he felt ashamed of it. Because he was also well aware that other people didn't have it as good as him, and it didn't feel good to be confronted with that every time. 

He fiddled with his hands in his lap a little. "Y'know, I never like showing people my room." 

Thomas, who was still admiring every little detail in sight, walked towards him and frowned. "What? Why not? It's ama-"

"Amazing, I know." Newt sighed, glancing up at Thomas who sat down next to him on another chair. "But I always feel like I'm bragging. Like, 'I'm the rich kid, look at what I have'."

Thomas scoffed and seemed to be in thought for a moment. Then he spoke up, his voice genuine. 

"You know, I get that. People can be judgy sometimes, and it must feel stupid to always be the one with everything. But you don't act like it."

Newt frowned and Thomas explained, leaning back in his chair. "You remember that kid, Scott? He was a senior last year."

Newt nodded.

"Okay, so Scott's parents were loaded. And I once went to a party, and the only thing it was all about was about how much money he had, how big his car was and how big his swimming pool- wait," Thomas seemed like he had a moment and his eyes widened, "Do you have a pool?"

Newt bit his lip. "Yeah."

"Holy shit," Thomas whispered, seeming very amazed by all of it, but he quickly shook his head, "As I was saying, you don't act like the rich kid. You got it all, but until right now, I didn't know you did. And that is special because most people can't do anything else than brag about their big rooms and expensive cars. So, don't worry about coming off arrogant or anything, because you don't."

Wow, that was nice. 

Newt bit his lip and nodded slowly. "Okay. Thanks, I guess."

Thomas smiled. "Anytime. Hey, um, sorry if it's rude, but can I like, wash my face somewhere? I got dog saliva all over me." He shot Nancy, who was taking a nap next to Newt's bed, a wink.

Newt chuckled. "First of all, never worry that something is rude ever again. If you're here, you can just grab anything you want or need, food, drinks, clothes, whatever, you don't have to ask, okay?"

Thomas raised his eyebrows. "But what if I don't know where anything is? I don't want to, like, violate your privacy by going through your stuff."

"Do you know you're the first person that has ever worried about that?"

"Really?" Thomas almost sounded offended. 

Newt shrugged and huffed. "Yeah. But if you don't know where anything is, just ask me okay? If you really can't think of a single place where it could be, ask me."

Thomas laughed, standing up. "Okay, deal. Where's the bathroom?"

Newt rolled his eyes. "Fuck off." The bathroom was literally behind the wall, in sight. It didn't have a door to separate the two rooms and it had a small wall between it, but it was kind of visible anyways. He liked it. 

Thomas grinned and then walked off. Newt shook his head with a smile and grabbed his stuff out of his bag, laughing when he heard Thomas exclaim all sorts of 'Holy shits', 'oh my gods', and 'whaaaat's'.

He snatched his sketchbook from his desk and started doodling a little, nothing serious. He took a sip of his tea and a bite of his fruit. He loved to draw. He didn't do it every day, but he always enjoyed it. After his incident, his therapist had said it'd be a good method to vent, and he wanted to do anything to get better. So he tried it, and fell in love with the way his pencil scratched over a sheet. 

After a few minutes, Thomas came back. The guy had probably inspected every little detail and shiny thing. He couldn't blame him. 

The brunet sat down next to him again, peeking over his shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?"

Newt sighed and closed the sketchbook. "Drawing."

Thomas' eyes widened and Newt wondered if he could surprise the guy any more on a day. "You draw?"

Nodding, Newt opened his textbooks for French. He didn't feel like it at all. 

Thomas grabbed his books as well. "Cool. Can I see?"

Newt huffed with a smile. His art, if you could even call it that, wasn't a secret. His friends browsed through his drawings all the time. But, it was Thomas, so no, he couldn't see it. 

"You haven't reached that level of friendship yet. And you never will."

Thomas' jaw dropped. "Wh- mean!" Then he sagged back a little in his chair, a small smirk playing around his lips, making his eyes extra big. “Can’t you at least give me a chance?”

Newt considered this for a moment. His mind told him to just say no. but then he saw those damn puppy eyes, he remembered how nice Thomas had been all day, and for a moment he was just done with the whole ‘I hate you’ act. He sighed. “Fine.”

Thomas’ face lit up completely. It was hilarious. And captivating. And Newt would forever deny it made his stomach do a tiny somersault. 

“Okay, you gotta stop with the with the happy puppy look, otherwise Nancy is gonna think her brother is here.”

Thomas’ jaw dropped and he leaned back in the chair. “You know, sometimes you can let your mask down and you are really nice,” the corner of his mouth turned upwards ever so slightly, “and then other times your just really mean and harsh.”

Newt swallowed and wanted to apologize because that was a hell of a statement, but then he saw that Thomas was grinning. He rolled his eyes. 

“It’s my trademark. Now shut up and let’s get to work.”

Thomas laughed. “Yes, sir.”

Taking another sip of his tea, he shoved the fruit bowl in between them. “Oh, and I only want to do this for an hour. I’m exhausted.”

“God, me too.” Thomas agreed, enthusiastically picking a piece out of it. 

Newt grinned. “Then that’s a deal. So do you remember everything from the passé compose and the present?”

Thomas nodded eagerly. “Yeah, easy peasy.”

“Okay, then now we’ll move on to the imparfait.”

Thomas seemed a little afraid. “That sounds way to intricate.”

Newt licked his lips and patted him on the arm. “Yeah, it is. Now pay attention…”

-

Thomas picked up new things really quickly. Newt only had to explain it once or twice, and he just understood it. It was pretty great. He didn’t really understand how the boy could’ve been so bad at French before. Maybe Newt was just an amazing tutor, or Thomas had never done a shit for it. The latter was most likely.

He was checking the exercises Thomas had made and was surprised when there were only 2 mistakes out of 20. He glanced to the side. Thomas was rapping along with FEFE, bobbing his head to the beat and biting his pen. 

They couldn’t decide on what music to put on, so they just played the top 50. What was impressive, is that Thomas knew all the lyrics. Literally everything. He saw along with every rap song, not missing one beat. Newt was surprised, to say at least, and at first he wanted to shut the boy up, but actually, he didn’t mind that much. 

Thomas had a pretty great singing voice. 

He nudged the boy with his elbow. “You did a good job, Tommy-Thomas.” 

Newt buried his head in his hands. Fuck. 

What the hell was his mind doing? 

He heard Thomas laugh.

Why couldn’t he call the boy by his normal name anymore? It was like since he came up with the nickname, he couldn’t call him anything else. And it was embarrassing. It was fucking embarrassing. He sounded like a toddler who couldn’t pronounce normal words yet, so he had to say _Tommy_. 

It was so stupid. He was stupid. Why couldn’t he just be fucking normal every once in a while? Why did he have to humiliate himself every damn time? He was just-

No. He forced himself not to finish that thought. He wouldn’t think like that. Not anymore. 

“Newt.”

He sighed and dropped his hands to his lap, glancing up at Thomas, only to be met with genuine brown eyes, no traces judgment or humor in them.

“Yes?”

Thomas spun his chair so that he was facing him. “Calm down,” the brunet let out a chuckle, “I can literally see you scolding yourself. Stop that.” The guy lightly kicked his leg. “I don’t mind you calling me Tommy.” He shrugged. “I like it; it’s sweet.”

Newt swallowed. 

“So stop freaking out about it.” 

Newt swallowed again. Thomas didn’t mind? But it was-

No, Thomas didn’t mind, so he was not going to freak out. It was okay. Maybe a little weird, but okay.

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” Thomas smiled and turned back to his work again. “Can I call you Newtie now, too?”

Newt shot him a look. 

Thomas sniggered and held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I get it, that’s too far.”

Newt shook his head and didn’t really bite down on his smile. “Yes, it is.” He grabbed the sheets. “Now look, you’ve got 2 mistakes…”

-

Sighing, Newt pressed the home button again.

4:13

An hour was so long.

He put his head on the table and observed Thomas, who was singing along to Taste, not missing a word. The guy was doing something that looked like Chemistry homework, his brow creased a little, unconsciously licking his lips. 

He clicked it again. 

4:13

The bowl with fruit was empty; they’d eaten everything in the first 10 minutes, and the rest of his tea was cold.

4:14

He could just call this an hour, right? A minute didn’t make that much of a difference. 

But no, he couldn’t, because he would only disappoint himself. 

4:14

_You’ll believe God is a woman. And I, I feel it after midnight,_

Of course, Thomas hit the high notes. 

4:14

How long did a fucking minute take?

4:14

Thomas was so concentrated, Newt had never seen him this determined before. He sighed again.

4:15

Yes.

It was like a weight was being lifted off his chest and he practically leaped out of his chair, falling on the bed. He relished the way the pillows and blankets felt around him and he curled up a little in it. 

Muffled laughter was heard behind him, but he didn’t really care. He let out a content sigh and rolled on his back, enjoying the way his bed felt so soft and smelled nice. 

He lay there for a while, just enjoying the rest and the music. He felt… good. Content. He was helping Thomas, he had nice friends, a nice house, nice parents, and if he had to be really honest with himself, Thomas wasn’t that bad. 

When the song changed to Eastside, Thomas finally closed his books as well. He stood up and fiddled a little with his hands, looking around hesitantly, as if he didn’t know what to do now. 

It was amusing to see the guy go from so self-assured to shy that quickly.

“So, uh…,”

Newt huffed and patted the space next to him on the bed. Thomas raised an eyebrow at it, eyes flicking up to Newt’s.

“Are you sure?”

Newt rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna bite you. Come on.”

He didn’t really know why he invited Thomas into his bed, but he decided not to dwell on it that long. But it was weird, considering he hated the guy.

Thomas ran a tongue along his smile. “Okay, if you say so.” He hopped on the bed and crawled to the spot next to Newt, rolling on his back as well. 

Newt slowly let his eyelids fall, the tiredness seeping into his body. 

“Dude, your bed is amazing,” Thomas mumbled, stroking the fur blanket under his fingers. 

Newt hummed in response. 

The thoughts were drifting away, and he soon forgot about Thomas’ presence; now only in his own bubble of warmth and softness. He was falling, almost falling over that edge of darkness…

He was roughly pulled out of it when Thomas suddenly shot up and the mattress lifted a little. “Oh wait, I got something for you!”

Newt groaned and cracked one eye open, glancing at Thomas who was crouching down next to his bag. “What, why?”

The brunet rummaged through his bag, and when he’d found whatever it was, he lay down on the bed again so that he was facing Newt, propping himself up on one elbow. 

Newt turned to the side as well and he glanced up at Thomas, whose eyes were just sparkling with happiness. 

Adorable, was the only word his mind supplied him with. 

Nice, brain. _Thanks_.

And the closeness plus the vanilla minty breath the guy always seemed to have didn’t really help either.

“Well, you said I owed you, so,” Thomas drew out the O, finally revealing what he held in his hand, “consider this as one of the three things you’ll get from me.”

Newt frowned and studied the hand, but when he finally realized what it was, he couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up his throat.

“A protein bar?”

Thomas smiled, handing the bar to him. “Yup, it’s all yours.”

Newt huffed with a smile and rolled on his back again, inspecting the bar in his hand. “Why?”

“Since you are afraid of sharing my spit, I thought I’d get you one for yourself.”

Newt gaped. “I’m not afraid of sharing your spit.”

He wasn’t. He really wasn’t. It sounded gross, but if he had to choose someone he had to share spit with, it’d probably be Thomas, because the guy was clean and smelled nice. He actually didn’t know either why he kept refusing food Thomas offered him, but it was like his brain commanded him not to do it, even though his heart wanted to. 

“You refused to eat my bitten-off food. Twice!”

Newt rolled his eyes, raising a suggestive eyebrow at the boy. “Maybe that’s has something to do with the sound of ‘bitten-off food’.”

Thomas sucked his teeth. “Nah, you’re just afraid.” He turned so that he was lying on his side, facing Newt.

“I’m not!” Newt turned now as well, and the few inches between their faces made him less uncomfortable than he’d thought. 

Thomas grinned, eyes skipping between Newts. “Prove it.”

Newt swallowed, the tension twisting around his throat.

For a split second, it felt natural to just lean in and smooch the boy. Just kiss him. But it was Thomas, and the thought of ever having to kiss that made his stomach roll dangerously. (Well, actually it didn’t, but Newt very much liked to convince himself it did.)

“What, you want me to kiss you?”

Different emotions washed over Thomas’ face, and for a split second there was something in his eyes that made Newt think he was actually going to lean in, but then the guy burst out laughing. 

“Ew, no, that’s disgusting.”

Now _that_ piqued his interest

“What is disgusting? Two boys kissing?” Newt asked, raising a suggestive eyebrow at him. 

Thomas’ eyes widened, and as expected, the guy immediately started apologizing. “No, no! Of course not! That’s- I have nothing against gays. I mean, it’s normal. Like the most normal thing ever and I-” He took a breath.

Newt really couldn’t stop the laughter anymore. 

Thomas’ jaw dropped. “You’re totally fucking with me, aren’t you?”

Newt rolled back on his back again, sending the guy an amused grin. “You’ll learn someday.”

“Fuck you.” Thomas laughed.

“Maybe later, babe.”

Eventually, their laughter died down. Newt felt his eyelids drooping, letting himself being pulled into that darkness. He forgot about the presence of Thomas next to him, he forgot about tutoring lessons, he forgot about everything. The music around him was now only a hum in the background; it was just him in his own bubble. 

After a while, Newt didn’t exactly know how much time had passed, Thomas spoke up, his voice rough as if he’d been napping. 

“What time is it?”

Newt huffed, not having the energy to open his eyes. “Check your _Rolex_ ”

He expected that Thomas would say the time and then be silent again, but he got something completely different. 

The brunet shot up, scrambled off the bed, muttering all kinds of curses under his breath. Newt frowned and forced himself to open his eyes, observing Thomas as he quickly grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, anxiously tapping his fingers on the band. 

“I need to go.”

Newt pushed himself up on his elbows, eyeing Thomas up and down. “What’s wrong?”

Thomas nervously licked his lips and checked his watch again. “I- uh, I promised my dad, uh I said I’d be home at 4:30 and it’s 4:31 now.”

Newt huffed with a small smile. “So what, you’ll be like 5 minutes late. Not that big of a deal, right?”

Thomas chuckled humorlessly. “Well, you don’t know my dad.” He snapped. The guy immediately seemed apologetic, but Newt knew he’d hit a sensitive spot.

He swallowed and decided not to push any further. What Thomas did in his own time and what kind of relationship he had with his parents was none of his business. They weren’t friends, after all. 

“You’re right.”

Thomas nodded, and Newt saw the hard layer fall off his face. “So, I’m gonna go. See you tomorrow.” He waved briefly and then opened the door, ready to step out. 

Newt felt something tug at his heart. A want, a need to reach out, to hug and soothe the boy; comfort him, in some way. He didn’t know where the hell it came from, but all he knew was that it almost hurt and that he just wanted to _protect_.

But he didn’t know how. 

“Hey, Tommy?”

He didn’t even care about the nickname anymore; it felt natural. 

Thomas halted in the door, a rushed expression on his face, but Newt could see the curious glint in his eyes. “Yeah?”

Newt smiled softly. “It’ll be okay.”

Gnawing on his lip, the boy nodded, managing a tiny, barely visible smile. “Yeah, probably.”

And with that, he closed the door, leaving Newt alone and a little confused. 

He sighed and fell back on his bed, thinking about Thomas, and how anxious he’d seemed. What could be wrong?

He mulled on it for a little while, but when he couldn’t think of a proper reason, he put it aside and closed his eyes. Very soon, the tiredness seeped into his body again, the calming notes of Nevermind filling the room. He fell into a light sleep, full of weird dreams.

All of them involved Thomas. 

-

#### Tuesday

When Newt arrived at school, everyone (his friends and the Thomas-gang, apparently they were all one now) was already there, laughing and talking. He walked up to them and squeezed himself between Minho and Thomas, shortly greeting everyone. 

Minho patted him on his shoulder and Thomas shot him a smile. “Hey.”

Newt nodded back, not really biting back on the smile. “Tommy.”

The way Thomas’ face lit up at the nickname was hilarious.

And he ignored the pinch at his arm from Minho. Dammit, of course, he had to hear as well. He was going to hear about that forever.

-

How he had ended up sitting with the girls for lunch, he didn’t really know himself, but it was pretty fun. The boys were sitting a few seats further, laughing about some fight. 

Well, it was fun until they started with suggestions for boyfriends. 

Brenda leaned forward, pointing at a guy across the canteen Newt recognized as Dell. “Him?”

Newt observed the guy and then frowned. “He looks like, 3.”

Harriet pursed her lips. “Okay, someone mature, got it. Lemme see,” She bit her lip, scanning everyone around them. “Him!” 

Newt followed her finger and his gaze landed on some hot guy in a blue shirt, looking like he was 35. 

“Too old.”

Sonya sighed. “You’re impossible. What do you want then?”

Newt’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me? You were the ones who wanted to pick out boyfriends for me, I never asked for it.” Then he added, “And I just want someone of my own age.”

Teresa seemed to be in thought for a while, and then suddenly she smiled. “That guy from History, Daniel.”

Newt pictured the guy in his head. “Nope.”

“George.”

“Ew.”

“Bellamy.”

“He’s cute, but nah.”

This went on for a while, and everyone they suggested Newt turned down. He wasn’t looking for a boyfriend either. But on the other hand, they were just being nice, so he had to endure it. 

He was done when Brenda eventually did a very disturbing suggestion, a smirk playing around her lips. 

“What about Thomas?”

Newt blinked. 

And then again. 

And then he sighed, standing up. “I’m leaving, I’ll sit with them.”

He was done. Seriously? Thomas?! No. Just no. Ever. Maybe Newt had realized he wasn’t that bad but as a boyfriend? God no.

…

To be fair, if he only had to look at appearance, maybe he’d consider it. But with the personality? No.

All the girls ‘oooooooooh’ed while he was making his way over and he kind of wanted to crawl in a hole. 

When he sat down next to Thomas, the only seat available (dammit), Brenda raised her voice. “Hey, Newt! Take your chance!”

Newt flipped her the middle finger and didn’t respond any further. Unfortunately, Thomas had heard it as well. The boy leaned over, a smile on his face. 

“What’s that about?”

Newt shrugged. “They’re being stupid.”

Thomas laughed, and Newt ignored the way he immediately felt lighter.

Something gnawed at him. He had to ask how it went yesterday, especially since he’d spent so much time worrying about it. Well, he had not been worrying. Just been… thinking about the whole situation. He didn’t worry about Thomas.

“Was your dad mad, yesterday?”

Thomas face washed over with a panicked look for a moment, and he swallowed nervously, but then the mask was put on again and he smiled. “Oh, nah man, he was fine.”

Yeah, _sure_.

As if Newt believed that. Thomas was a really bad liar. Or actually, he wasn’t, but Newt just saw right through him. He was an open book. Still, they weren’t friends, so there was no need to ask further. If the boy wanted to talk or wanted to help, he’d go to one of his own friends. 

“Good.”

Thomas nodded, a muscle feathering in his jaw oh so lightly, and then he turned back to the conversation again. 

Newt decided just to let it go. 

-

#### Wednesday

When he came to class the next day, Thomas, Teresa, Harriet, Frypan, and Ben were already there, talking to each other. Newt’s stomach did a weird surprised flip when he saw Thomas and Ben together again, seeming perfectly happy with each other. 

Ben had the same smile on his face he always had when he was around Thomas, and the brunet had the same shine in his eyes. But he also could’ve imagined that. 

He walked up to the five, greeting them all. Ben acknowledged him with a short nod, and then immediately turned back to Thomas, smiling all over again. The brunet didn’t seem to take much interest in Ben though, as he clapped a hand on Newt’s arm, smiling brightly, brighter than he had smiled at Ben. 

“Hey, man!”

Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise but found himself smiling back effortlessly. “Hey, Tommy. How are you?”

The rest of the group didn’t seem to notice, but Ben definitely did. The guy glanced down at Thomas’ hand and then nudged him with his shoulder. 

“ _Tom_ , have you read that chapter about metabolism? Fields said she’d make pairs and then ask them some questions for a grade.”

Newt rolled his eyes. Seriously? Ben really didn’t have to mark his territory. He got it after the first snarl, damn. He almost wanted to say Hey dude, you can have him, I don’t want him, but with a lot of self-control, he kept it in.

Then, the realization hit him and his blood ran cold.

The chapter.

 _Shit_.

He’d completely forgotten about that. 

And he always sat next to Teresa in this class, who never did her homework. 

That was going to be an F. An F for Fucking stupid.

Thomas lightly kicked his shin, an amused smile on his lips. “Why do you look like you’re going to barf?”

Balling his hands into fists, Newt clenched his jaw. “I forgot to read it. And I literally don’t know a thing about the topic.”

He was such a fucking idiot. Yesterday he’d just been chilling with Minho, and he’d totally forgotten about it. And now he was going to get a bad grade, his parents were going to be disappointed, his teacher was going to be disappointed, his friends would think less of him-

“Hey,” Thomas grabbed his hand and pried his fingers between his, pulling them away from his palm, “stop that.”

Newt’s stomach did a flip in surprise at the contact and he looked down, only to see his nail imprints carved into his palms. He hadn’t even noticed he was doing that. He felt sick only thinking about that Thomas had just seen that and that he’d probably think he was a freak, but when he looked into the boy’s eyes, there were no traces of judgment in them. 

Thomas gave his fingers one last squeeze, almost reassuring and then let go again. He paid no mind to Ben, who was just watching with a disapproving look on his face. 

He shrugged. “You can sit next to me if you want? I _did_ do my homework.” He added with a smirk. 

Newt shook his head with a smile. “You’re a dick.” He observed the guy for a second; the messy hair, the big brown eyes… and he came to a conclusion. “But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to.” He could handle sitting next to Thomas for an hour if it meant getting a good grade. 

Thomas just smiled back, and just when Ben opened his mouth to say something, Ms. Fields came in; a young, pretty and new teacher. Practically all the guys were crushing on her and for Newt, she was actually the first teacher he’d liked in a long time. 

“Good morning class! Will you please all take a seat?”

Newt waited for Thomas to walk to a table, but Ben stopped the brunet with a hand on his chest, an incredulous look on his face. “You’re really sitting with him?” He shot Newt a look. “Thought you’d be sitting with me. Like always.”

For a moment, Newt really thought Thomas would ditch him and the panic already rose up his throat, but thankfully the guy rolled his eyes and shrugged the hand on the shoulder off.

“Are you serious? Come on, Ben. He needs my help, just let me sit with him.”

Ben swallowed and pouted a little, and Newt’s liking for the boy kept decreasing. 

Thomas sighed and put his hands on the boy’s shoulders, shaking them a little. “The rest of the day I’ll sit next to you.”

It would’ve been sweet in any other scenario, but Newt could hear the tension in Thomas’ voice which explained itself that he was actually a little done with Ben.

Said guy just kept staring for a few more seconds, glancing between Newt and Thomas, and then he sighed and walked over to another table, muttering ‘fine’.

Thomas shook his head and turned to him, an exasperated expression on his face. They sat down at a table and Thomas sighed deeply, throwing his head back. 

“God, he’s nice, but I swear, sometimes he’s like a little child demanding attention all day.” 

Newt chuckled and took his books out of his bag. “I’m pretty sure he likes you, mate.”

He was pretty sure he’d never seen something so amusing as Thomas choking on his own spit, redness flooding his face. “Wha- We, He’s not, like, no, that’s not- what- why would you think that?”

In case he wasn’t smirking yet, he definitely was now. “I’m just sayin’, you’d be cute together is all.”

Thomas’ eyes widened and he became even redder, but he quickly regained his composure. “Please shut up, or I’ll regret ever sitting next to you.”

Newt laughed, ignoring Ben’s stares from across the classroom.

“Isaacs. Are you having fun over there? Do I need to split you two up?”

He immediately shut up and felt Thomas’ grin pricking into his neck.

“No, ma’am. We’re good.” The guy answered, slinging an arm around Newt’s shoulders. The blond squirmed away from the touch, but if he had to be really honest, he didn’t mind it as much as he wanted to.

When their teacher started telling what they were going to do today, Thomas leaned into him. “We’d not be cute.”

Newt didn’t even look at him and just whispered back, “Yes, you would.” And as an afterthought, he added with a waggle of his eyebrows, “And it’d be hot, too.” Because let’s be honest, Thomas and Ben? That was like throwing Jesse Williams and Bob Morley into a volcano. 

Thomas snorted.

-

Working with Thomas had been pretty… challenging. 

But also fun.

After Thomas answered question after question right, Newt was really impressed.

“How can you possibly be so good at this?”

Thomas shrugged as if he didn’t care, but Newt could see the proud glint in his eyes. “I just don’t think it’s that hard. Plus, I kinda like it.”

“Oh god, you’re a nerd.” Newt laughed, but immediately stopped when he saw Thomas recoiling, the proud glint disappearing completely. He punched the guy lightly in the shoulder. 

“Hey, I’m kidding.”

Thomas suspiciously looked up at him and Newt let out a chuckle when he realized how much the guy resembled a puppy.

“I think it’s great you have a subject you really like.”

Thomas seemed to realize that he was speaking the truth because a small smile formed on his lips.

“Do you want to do something with it?”

The guy next to him frowned. “What do you mean?”

Newt rolled his eyes, reformulating the question. “What do you want to do later? In life.”

He could see the realization wash over Thomas’ face. 

“Oh, uh-” He swallowed, fiddling with his hands a little. “I guess, my dad, he wants me to do something with football, or start a business, become successful, y’know...” He trailed off, staring into space. 

“So, I guess I’ll become a businessman. Since I’m not that good at football that I can do it professionally.”

Newt tilted his head, nudging Thomas with his elbow. The guy looked at him with dull eyes, like he just realized how depressing his future was going to be. 

“And what do you want to be?”

Thomas scoffed sadly. “What does that matter? I could never do it anyways.”

Newt gaped. Thomas? Thomas; the happy, always uplifting, always positive, funny, sarcastic, easy going, popular, sweet, smart guy, thought like this about his future? That was… depressing. 

“Of course you can.” 

Thomas sent him a hesitant look and turned a little more towards him, his shoulders sagged. 

“Now what do _you_ want to be? If there was no one to tell you what you can and can’t, what would you want to do?”

Thomas smiled softly, an exiting glint appearing in his eyes. His whole energy radiated posture radiated energy for a moment. 

“I wanna be a doctor.”

Newt smiled. Yeah, he could see Thomas do that. “That’s great! Why wouldn’t you be able to do it?”

Thomas shrugged, his smile faltering, the energy switching to a negative one. “I’m not smart enough. And even if I would be, my dad would never let me.”

Newt shook his head with a frown, ignoring the sour feeling of a depressing realization. ‘My dad wouldn’t let me?’ What was that for kind of bullshit? 

“Why wouldn’t he let you? Being a doctor is amazing!”

Thomas chuckled softly, sadly, looking down at his lap. “He wouldn’t want to waste money on something that I’ll never be able to do.”

Newt raised his eyebrows and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, wanting to tell him that it was nonsense and that he should just pick himself up, but Thomas winced as if he was in pain. The boy looked at him with fear in his eyes, tears glistening at the brim. Newt’s stomach did a weird flip. He immediately recoiled and softened his grip, rubbing his thumbs over the boy’s arms. 

“Hey…” He wanted to say more, but he got lost in the way Thomas was staring at him.

After a few seconds, the boy let out a huff and blinked the tears away, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Newt said resolutely, letting his hands fall to the side. “I just, I wanted to say you can do it. I know you can. You are really smart. And if your dad doesn’t think that, then maybe he and I need to have a little talk.”

He didn’t really know where all of that came from, but Thomas honestly seemed so heartbroken and his dad was a dick if he really thought that. You can’t be that unsupportive of your son, right? Even his dad (and that was a serious asshole) still was proud of him, whatever he wanted to do in life.

Thomas huffed a laugh, slowly getting back to his old self again. “Thanks.” He smiled gratefully. “Do I have to set up a meeting for you two?”

Newt grinned, but he also wanted to let the guy know he was for real. He’d really do it if it came down to it; if he had to.

“Hey, I’m serious.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. 

“You are smart. I don’t know where you got it from that you’re not, but in the past few weeks that I’ve had to keep up with you…” He bit his lip, trying to come up with the right words.

“You impressed me. You really aren’t as stupid as you look.”

Thomas laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners, and it made Newt feel better; lighter, like he pulled the guy from the dark place he went to for a second. 

“And if your dad does think that, I will seriously talk to him if I have to. I mean it”

They locked eyes. Newt was a little shaken by his own words. He had no idea where they’d come from and when he’d started to get so protective and caring over Thomas, but the boy smiled and he just seemed so grateful, that he forgot about the insecurities. 

“Thanks. Honestly, that’s one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me. And it even came from you!” The guy kicked his leg slightly, smile mischievous. “And I wouldn’t take my dad on, just a piece of advice, but still… Thank you for the offer.”

“Isaacs and Edison, I’m done! Shut up right now or I will split the two of you up! This is the last warning, and even then I’m going easy on you two. Work!” 

Newt sent Thomas one last look and waggled his eyebrows. Thomas laughed. 

“Then let’s get to work, Newton.”

Newt elbowed him in the ribs.

-

The two of them got an A, and honestly, that was only because Thomas was super amazing at this subject. Newt couldn’t have come up with a single answer himself.

When they walked out of the classroom with the rest of the people, Ms. Fields called them back. Newt raised an eyebrow at Thomas who mirrored the action, and they both turned around. 

“Yes?”

Their teacher stepped up to them, waiting until everyone had left. When they had, she glanced between them, a small smile playing around her lips. 

“Boys. I get it that must be very exciting and fun to sit next to each other, but you are seriously interrupting the peace.”

Newt opened his mouth to say something, because that was bullshit; everyone was always talking, but his teacher turned to Thomas. 

“Thomas, when you sit next to Ben you’re calm, so if this,” she pointed between them, “doesn’t work out, I’m placing you next to him again.”

Thomas nodded obediently. “Yes, ma’am.”

She smiled. “Good. You can leave now.”

They both nodded (Thomas saluted, the dork) and turned around, but she called one last thing, making them look at her again.

“Good job on the assignment, by the way.” She winked and then sat back down at her desk.

When they were outside of the classroom, Newt turned to Thomas, who had the same confusion he felt written on his face.

“What was that wink?”

Newt shook his head furiously. “I have no idea, and I don’t want to know either.”

Thomas groaned, but suddenly his head shot up and a sort of excited glint washed over his face. “Did she mean we're going to sit together now? Like, every lesson?”

Newt scoffed and started walking, Thomas falling into step with him. Sitting with Thomas every Biology lesson, right. But actually… it didn’t sound that bad. It had been pretty fun with Thomas. He was nice and funny and smart and sweet and…

He was not going to finish that thought. 

Bottom line was, he wouldn’t mind sitting next to the guy more often. But Ben would probably get even more jealous if they sat together every lesson now, and that was not something he wanted.

“Don’t you think Ben’ll go all crazy on us if we do that?”

“He won’t like it, that’s for sure, but…” Thomas shook his head, sucking his teeth, “It’s not like I _love_ sitting next to him, y’know. And it was pretty fun with you. Like, relatively.” The guy added with a smirk.

Newt slapped him on his arm. “It was also moderately manageable with you. And we’ll see about sitting together more. Who knows what Ben will do if I steal his boyfriend.”

Thomas gaped. “He’s not-” He fell silent. “No, I’m not falling for it again. See you later.”

Newt chuckled, halting him with a pull on his arm. “What class do you have now?”

Thomas put his thumbs up, pulling his mouth into his fakest fake smile ever. “English.”

“Oh, fun.”

Thomas chuckled and stepped backward, readjusting the strap of his backpack. “Yeah, incredibly. See you at lunch, Newton.” The guy turned around with a smirk and Newt’s blood started boiling. 

“Don’t call me that, you asshole!”

Thomas didn’t even turn around and just innocently put up his hands. “What do I get for it, Newton?”

And Newt would probably never forgive himself for what he said, but he was desperate, and he never wanted to hear that name come out of Thomas’ mouth. 

“Anything.” 

“Anything?” Thomas came to a stop in the empty hallway and turned around with an incredibly mischievous smirk, it made Newt feel… he didn’t know. 

So he flipped the guy the middle finger and walked off, trying not to register Thomas’ cackling. 

-

Thomas was a dick to him at lunch.

And also quite hilarious. 

Minho kept sending him these glances, and Newt practically squirmed away from them. Of course, he’d heard what happened at Bio too. Fuck his life.

Ben was very possessive over Thomas. The brunet sent him all sorts of looks, and it was obvious that he was seriously done with Ben. Eventually, he even shrugged the guy off just ignored him, only to talk to Newt. 

He could feel the hurt, but he liked it that Thomas ditched Ben for him a little too much.

Oops.

-

#### Thursday

When everyone was walking to class after lunch, Thomas fell into step next to Newt. 

The blond frowned. “Hey?”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Don’t act so surprised. As if it is that weird.”

“Uh, it is. We’re not friends.” 

They weren’t.

Right?

No, they weren’t. 

Just people who interacted with each other. 

Laughing, the guy gave him a shove. “Mean. But I just wanted to let you know that Charron wants to talk to me now.”

Oh yeah, of course. He would check up on the two of them every once in a while. But then why did he only want to talk to Thomas and not to the both of them?

“Why?”

“Said it had something to do with seeing if I’m doing great. Something about tests and shit.” He waved around vaguely. “And probably also about how it’s going between us.”

Newt hummed. “And what are you going to tell him, then?”

Thomas waggled his eyebrows. “That we’ve fallen in love and that every time we study we fuck afterward as a reward.”

Almost choking on his own spit, Newt tried to push the image out of his head. The way Thomas was grinning at him made him very frustrated like he figured something out Newt didn’t even know himself. 

“Hmm, you know what?” He pulled the guy in by his arm. “If he asks you how it’s going between us…” He leaned in, lowering his voice. “Tell him I still hate you.”

He didn’t know if he imagined it, but Thomas’ breath hitched in his throat for a second, and then Newt pushed him in the direction of the classroom, winking at him. 

“Good luck with him.”

Thomas laughed, faint blush hinting at his cheeks. “Thanks.”

Newt shook his head with a smile and turned around. 

' _Tell him I still hate you_.'

He didn’t.

 

Bloody hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO, yeah. I don't really know how to say this, so imma be straightforward; im putting a hold on this story. IM NOT GOING TO STOP WRITING THIS, I WILL FINISH IT GODDAMMIT.
> 
> But the thing is, I'm kinda not that much into Newtmas rn; i have another fandom i recently discovered, am very busy with college and work, and honestly, writing Newtmas doesn't bring me that much satisfaction anymore. I'm determined to finish this story, and I will, but I'm going to take a break from this now. Maybe I'll have motivation in a few weeks, maybe in a few months. I get that this SUCKS, but ( i don't wanna sound selfish or anything) the moment writing this became more stress than fun, that was the moment I knew i needed a lil break. 
> 
> I'm really sorry, and i hope that i'll be into it soon again, but I don't know how long it will take. Just bookmark it and then check again after a few months, it'll probably be finished by then. But again, I don't know; it could also be next year. 
> 
> Anyways, again, im really sorry, but im choosing myself right now. I hope you guys can understand that. Much love, meghan xx


	8. I- okay yeah i kinda think you're nice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Newt comes to a realization and Thomas is a sweetie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo bitcheeesss guess whaaaattt
> 
> first of all, a disclaimer; i am indeed posting this chapter, but that doesn't mean I'm back to my regular updating sceduele. I'm just going to post and write whenever i feel like it, but the most important thing is that i _will_ be posting again, amirite???
> 
> A few days ago, i was like, fuck it, i want to write this story again, so i did. Most of this chapter was already written out though, so i only added the last part. I wonder if you notice the diffrence in writing (It's gotten a lot worse lol)
> 
> The thing is, i completely lost the storyline in my head. the past few months i've been busy with other things and other stories, and i completely forgot where i wanted to go with this story, so im just randomly writing things now, hoping it'll all work out in the end looll. 
> 
> Sorry if this chapter is dissappointing bc it's not like whoawhoa comeback chapter this is amazing or anything like that, nope, it's just a normal chapter, no fun surprises here and there. 
> 
> Again, I hope you still like it, and i apologize in advance if the story suddenly takes weird turns or if you think my writing has gotten incredibly bad. :)
> 
> Still hope you like it though, enjooyyy everyone <33

#### Friday, October 12th

Friday was Newt’s favorite day of the week. It was the start of the weekend, his parents came home a little earlier, usually he hung out with his friends, had a party at night…

Yeah, he loved Fridays.

And he wasn’t going to let it be ruined by Thomas. But to be really honest, the guy probably was going to make it even better. 

But he’d never tell him that.

So when Thomas asked him to study again that afternoon, he obviously said yes. For one because he had to, and also because he’d come to the revelation that he didn’t hate Thomas anymore. 

He’d thought about it for the whole evening. He was a little scared, because he didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t have such an aversion for Thomas. Would they become friends? Did he want that?! And then there was the fact that Thomas could be serious about hating him, and then he’d just look stupid. 

And he was also mad at himself for letting it come this far. He’d let the guy get under his skin, and he hated it. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to think Thomas could be potential friend material, and here he was. 

He hated himself for it for a few moments. 

But when he was eventually screaming along with some song out of frustration, he realized that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

It wasn’t like he suddenly liked Thomas now. There was just… no hatred in the game anymore. And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. 

A lot of maybes were in his head when he fell asleep, and he told himself just to quit worrying and go with the flow.

But he was still torn between wanting to hate Thomas and doing the exact opposite. 

-

After lunch, Newt was about to go home, since he didn’t participate in PE anyways. Thomas stopped him though. 

“Hey, uh, you going home?”

Newt jingled the car keys in front of his face. “Yup.”

“Okay…” Thomas squinted for a moment. “Do I need to come to your house after school then?”

Oh right. He’d just automatically assumed Thomas would come to his place. Oops.

Newt smiled. “Yeah, sure. I’ll leave the back door open, so you can just come in. Or you can climb through my window.” he added jokingly. 

Thomas laughed. “Okay Newt, see ya then.” He walked off with Minho to PE, and waved one last time. 

When Newt went to his car, his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

\- Thomas- 12:31: id watch your back newtie 

\- Thomas- 12:31: maybe ill come in through your window and strangle you from behind or something 

\- Thomas- 12:31: since i hate you so much y know

\- Thomas- 12:32: you never know what will happen

Newt laughed the whole way to his car.

-

He only had one guilty pleasure. 

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

And it wasn’t even a guilty pleasure, since he didn’t believe in them. If you liked something, you liked it, and you didn’t have to feel guilty about it.

But still, it was kind of embarrassing. 

He was completely caught up in a mini-marathon on the couch in the living room. Outside, the sky was dark grey and the drops of rain were ticking against the window. A warm cup of tea was in his hand, a soft blanket draped over him, a roll of cookies next to him; everything was great. 

He was warm and fuzzy inside, felt like he wanted to laugh, and he was truly happy. He’d had those moments way more often recently. Since the incident, he’d struggled with feeling good again, but lately, the moments just seemed to come to him, instead of needing to work his ass of to get them. 

It was freeing.

And he would lie if he said he didn’t enjoy every second of it. 

Because life was so perfect for a second, he’d completely forgotten about Thomas. And that ended up being his big mistake. 

When he was about 5 minutes into the fourth episode, two arms covered in a dark blue hoodie were suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind and ‘BOO’ was called loudly into his ear.

He wasn’t proud of the scream he let out.

He turned around at the speed of lightening and his cup fell out of his lap. Thankfully there wasn’t any tea left in it. With his heart beating in his throat and the shock making his stomach constrict, he saw who it was. The dick. He released a breath and smacked the guy on his chest. 

Thomas was laughing loudly, leaning over the back of the couch, looking so bloody happy with himself. 

“Bloody hell, mate.” He breathed out, trying to get his heart beating at normal speed again. “Fuck.” 

Thomas finally composed himself again and he straightened up again, still grinning like an idiot. “I told you to watch your back.” He burst out laughing again, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. “Dude, your reaction was priceless.”

Newt shook his head and got comfortable again, pulling the blankets up to his chin. “I hate you. That wasn’t funny.”

Thomas circled the couch. “It was for me.”

Newt let out an annoyed breath, but actually, he didn’t mind that much. 

“Oh my god, you’re watching Friends?”

Shit.

Thomas was probably going to think he was an idiot and that-

“I love that show!”

 _Oh_. 

No need to worry apparently. 

He held in a chuckle and patted next to him on the couch. 

Thomas raised his eyebrows, but didn’t complain when he sat down, sighing deeply. He kicked of his shoes and then looked at Newt with a question on his face, and the blond couldn’t help but nod. Thomas smiled in response to that and put his legs up next to Newt’s, wriggling around to make himself comfortable.

They sat in silence for a while, watching Monica and Jessica getting in some sort of trouble, about a foot space in between them. Newt grabbed another cookie, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Thomas peering at his the package.

He sighed, holding out a cookie for the guy to take. “You want one?”

Thomas smiled gratefully and snatched it from his hand, and he thanked Newt with a muffled voice. “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” After a few seconds, he turned to the guy again. “Do you want something to drink as well?” Newt asked. He wasn’t that impolite he couldn’t even offer. 

But instead of telling him what he wanted, Thomas just sent him a smile and got up, grabbing Newt’s mug. Newt watched him pat to the kitchen, grab another mug, pour tea in both again. He walked back and sat down again next to Newt, this time a little closer. He handed Newt the mug, a smug smile on his face.

Oh, okay. That was fine, too.

Newt scoffed and kind of wanted to kick the guy. And he also wanted to… hug him? But he couldn’t, could he? 

_Nope_.

So they just went back to Friends, laughing along with the laugh track every once in a while. It was surprisingly… cozy; Thomas sitting next to him, occasionally sipping his tea and eating a cookie, sometimes chuckling like an idiot. 

But a sweet idiot.

He had to admit that. He still wasn’t the biggest fan, but Thomas was a really nice guy, sometimes. When they’d first met, he’d been a dick, but Newt could somewhat understand that. He wasn’t too keen on the whole tutoring thing either. He still wasn’t, actually. But it had become better after his whole outburst; Thomas had started showing more of his nice side, he was constantly joking, and Newt would lie if he said he hated to spend time with the guy.

Just like now; Thomas was laughing at some stupid joke, and he couldn’t help but join in. The brunet just sat there quietly, didn’t do much, but he was pleasant to be around. 

And maybe, even though he already kind of did, it was time for Newt to start playing a little nicer as well. And he didn’t know if he’d succeed, but he could at least try. It was Thomas after all, it couldn’t be that hard to have fun around him.

-

When the episode was finished, it only took one look at each other to confirm that another one couldn’t hurt. 

So Newt clicked play again, and they both loudly sang along with the title song. 

Thomas did the air guitar, making a whole show out if it. 

_So no one told you life was going to be this waaaaay_

Newt clapped to the beat and got an approving, almost proud grin in response.

_Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA_

_It’s like your always stuck in second geaaaarrr_

_When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but…_

_I’ll be there for youuuuuu_ , Thomas turned to him, pouring his heart out.

 _When the rain starts to pour_ , Newt finished, a little softer in a high voice.

_I’ll be there for youuuuuu_

_Like I’ve been there beforeeee_ , Newt waggled his eyebrows at the guy, remembering the time Thomas had that panic attack.

 _I’ll be there for youuuuuu_ , Thomas yelled once again, the look in his eye betraying he thought about that moment for a second too. He took the second voice this time, and it sounded amazing.

 _Cuz you’re there for me toooooo,_ they finished together, yelling at the top of their lungs. 

When the song was finished and the episode started, they were both grinning like idiots, and Newt didn’t mind one bit. He turned to Thomas, who was sitting like he didn’t just perform a fucking concert. 

“Mate, you can _sing_.”

Thomas shrugged, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks. He waved it off. “Nah, it’s nothing.”

Newt laughed and softly punched him in the shoulder. “Shut it. You’re amazing.”

From the way the guy was smiling, almost shyly, Newt knew that he was flattered. He didn’t say anything more, though; there was a limit to how many compliments he could give Thomas on one day. 

After a few minutes, the boy next to him shuddered, and even though he was wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up to his chin, he could see traces of goose bumps under it. He put his hands above the blanket for a second, to feel if it really was that cold, and yep, it was. 

Reluctantly, he pulled off one of the blankets on top of him and threw it on Thomas, who looked up in surprise. The brunet smiled. “Thanks.” He draped the blanket over himself and snuggled under it comfortably, pulling it up to his chin and scooting a little closer to Newt.

After a few minutes, Newt curiously glanced to the side when he heard a sniffing noise, and what he saw wasn’t disappointing. Thomas had the blanket pulled up to his nose, and he was smelling the damn thing. 

Newt raised an amused eyebrow. 

When Thomas caught him staring, the boy shrugged. He didn’t even look ashamed. 

“What? It smells nice.”

Newt chuckled and focused back on the TV, trying to ignore the funny feeling he got. He didn’t have to tell Thomas that it was his blanket, and that he always slept with it, so that it probably was his smell, right?

Nah. 

It was still a compliment though.

-

When the credits eventually appeared on the screen, Thomas groaned out of his little blanket cocoon. 

Newt completely understood what he was feeling. If it was for him, they’d lay here the whole afternoon, just chilling and watching Netflix. But they had to study. Not that long, but at least half an hour. They had to. 

So he pushed all the blankets off of him, ignoring the cold hitting him. He pushed himself up, but when he peered down at Thomas, the boy hadn’t made any advances to stand up. Newt nudged the blanket burrito once, and Thomas let out a whine, burying himself deeper into the warmth.

“Can we please watch another one?”

Rolling his eyes, Newt huffed. “After we’ve studied.”

Thomas peeked up from under his long eyelashes, which was definitely not attractive. “Yeah, but that’s boring.”

Newt sighed, but didn’t stop smiling. He started tugging at the end of the blanket, and in response Thomas only let out more protests, keeping the warm fabric close to his body. 

“Tommy, come on. One hour. Then we’ll watch again.”

“But it’s so _warm_.”

Newt rolled his eyes again and looked at the boy sternly, holding out a hand for him to take. “Thomas.”

The brunet huffed one more time and glared at him for a few seconds, but Newt knew there was no real heat behind it. Then, he unwillingly pulled his hand out from under the blanket and accepted Newt’s offered one. His grip was strong but gentle, and his palm was, to Newt’s delight, not sweaty or clammy.

The blond pulled him up, letting go of his hand once the boy stood straight. The blankets fell on the ground though, and Thomas whined in discomfort. 

“It’s _cold_!”

Newt playfully smacked the guy against his head and then collected the mugs, putting them on the coffee table. 

“Quit bloody whining.”

It may’ve come out harshly, but he hadn’t meant it that way. Thankfully, when he saw Thomas grinning, he knew that he knew that as well. 

They were about to make their way upstairs, but Thomas halted and picked up the blanket, cradling it in his hands. “Can I take this?”

Newt chuckled. “Yeah, of course.”

Thomas smiled happily and draped the thing around his own shoulders, snuggling to the heat again. When he walked past Newt on his way to the stairs, he warningly held up a finger. 

“Only an hour.”

Newt patted his back, smiling. “Deal. Let’s go, then.”

-

It was hard. It was very hard. 

He was tired and cold and didn’t feel like doing anything, but eventually he kind of got the hang of it and he could concentrate.

He’d explained Thomas some things and then let him study the vocabulary, and Newt had made a resume of his History chapters.

After exactly an hour, Thomas closed his books with a sigh and dragged himself over to the bed. The boy sat down crossed-legged, the blanket draped around him like a cape and his hood over his head. He looked like an idiot. But a comfortable idiot. 

Newt was glad he didn’t have to give permission for sitting down anywhere. That was a sign that the boy felt at home, at least a little bit, and he liked that. 

Thomas started tapping away on his phone, sending him a challenging smile. “The hour is over.”

Newt sighed painfully and turned to his notes once again, determined to finish the last few paragraphs. 

“I’m almost done.”

Thomas chuckled. “Whatever you say. I’ll just go and enjoy your _soft and comfortable_ bed by myself, then.”

Newt flipped him the middle finger.

-

Finishing the resume thankfully only took a few minutes. When he was done, he shoved his books far onto his desk and collapsed next to Thomas, who was still scrolling on his phone. 

He didn’t even know why he was, correction, why they both were so tired. Probably had something to do with the cookies.

Thomas clicked his phone of when he registered Newt next to him, and he put his elbows on his knees. 

“I need to talk to you.”

That made Newt sit up. His stomach churned uncomfortably and his heart started beating in anxiousness. Did he do something wrong? Was he being too mean? Did Thomas want to stop with the tutoring? Not that he’d mind the last thing that much, but still. He wouldn’t cheer it on either. And he felt really stupid for that. 

“Sure, what’s up?” His voice came out a little unsure and apparently Thomas noticed that, as he chuckled lightly. 

“I talked to Mr. Charron yesterday.”

_Oh_

He let out a sigh in relief and crossed his legs as well, facing Thomas. 

“Okay? And?”

Thomas smirked a little, a satisfied look in his eyes. “Well, first of all, he wasn’t really happy with us fucking and all, but as long as we keep working hard, he doesn’t mind that much.”

Newt chocked on air, his cheeks burning. “You told him that?”

Thomas nodded, but then burst out laughing, throwing his head back in amusement. “Your face, my god. No, of course I didn’t say that. Do you think I’m an idiot?”

Newt hummed. “Well…”

Thomas kicked his leg. 

“Okay, so, we have to make a choice.” 

Newt raised an eyebrow and Thomas started explaining. 

“My French class has a test next week. So that would mean that I have to study a lot for that, including stuff I’ve never even looked at this semester. The first option would be that I just follow the lessons and take tests with my own class and have you like, as an extra, just to help me with stuff. So we only have to see each other once or twice a month if it’s going well.”

Newt hummed. That was how he thought it would go.

“Now the other option is that I don’t take those test and that basically Charron is just going to give me tests about the stuff we’ve covered, and we can do it at our own speed, as long as the whole book is covered by the end of the year. So that’d mean I’d get a test in a few weeks till page 50 or something. You get it?”

“Yeah.”

“So, which do you choose?” Thomas pursed his lips and started fiddling with his hands. He almost looked insecure, like he was afraid that Newt was going to reject him.

The blond sighed, a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips, pretending to be contemplating. But actually, he already knew what his answer was going to be.

“What do _you_ want?”

Thomas huffed. “That doesn’t matter. You’re gonna be the one who has to keep up with me.”

“Yeah, I know, but,” Newt shrugged, “I still want to know what your preference is.”

Thomas squinted for a moment, studying Newt. Then, a little smile appeared on his face, and he looked so smug. “I think you know what I want.”

Newt chuckled. “Yeah, but I still want to hear it from you.”

After a few seconds, Thomas sighed in surrender. “The second option, obviously.” He glanced up once, as if to see Newt’s reaction. 

“I mean, there’s no way that I’m gonna be able to catch up to everything; all the grammar and the vocabulary. So it’d be better if I could just do the things at my own speed, y’know.”

Newt bit his lip, considering what he should do. The first one seemed the best. He didn’t have to do a lot, just occasionally help Thomas with things he thought were hard. But then Thomas had to work really hard to keep up with his class, and he probably wasn’t going to do as well as his did now, considering it was all new.

The second option meant they’d probably just keep going like they were now, seeing each other a few times a week. For Newt, that were a few hours lost where he could do a lot of other things. He had way better things to do than helping Thomas with his homework. Like… hanging out with his friends. And… watching TV shows. 

But… wasn’t helping Thomas a little like hanging out with his friends? And didn’t they watch Netflix together?

Then Thomas looked up at him with these big eyes, cocooned in the blankets and hoodie, and he just looked downright adorable. 

And Newt knew he was fucked.

 _Dammit_. 

“Fine.”

“W-what?” The boy spluttered, eyes widening.

Newt sent him a lop-sided smile, not really convinced why the fuck he was doing this. But he’d told himself he was going to be nicer to Thomas, and that included not letting the guy stress his ass off, so he kind of had to. 

The puppy-eyes also helped.

“I’ll do it. The second thing.”

There was no way to explain the way Thomas’ face lit up. He smiled brightly, his teeth showing and his eyes started shining. “Really?”

Newt nodded, and he couldn’t really hold in the smile either. “Yes.”

For a second, he felt like Thomas was going to lunge forward and hug him, given that he was almost bouncing with happiness, but the boy stayed in place. 

The worst thing was that Newt wouldn’t have pushed him away if he had. 

“Oh my god, yes! Thank you so much.”

Newt chuckled. “You’re welcome. But I’ll only do it if you’re not going to act like an idiot.”

Thomas grinned and shifted from his position, now stretching out on the bed, apparently totally comfortable with lying there. “I can’t promise anything, Newton.”

Newt gave his leg a shove and settled down next to him, head propped up on the pillows. Thomas’ blanket was still around him, and the boy was all snuggled up in himself, looking all warm and comfortable.

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him. “Well? Put on Friends. You promised me an episode.”

Chuckling, Newt grabbed his Ipad from under the bed. “You don’t have to be home at a specific time?”

Thomas waved him off. “Nah, it’s fine.”

“Good. I don’t feel like dealing with you panicking anytime soon.”

Thomas grinned and bumped their shoulders together as best as he could from his position. “Aw, but you’d still help me when I do, though.”

Newt bit his lip. Yeah, he probably would. 

He settled in and put the Ipad between them, his head resting on the pillows. Thomas’ hair was practically touching his, that was how close they were lying, but Newt didn’t really mind. The boy radiated warmth, and when his hand accidentally brushed past Thomas’ stomach, he only felt the softness of the blanket, so it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t really touching that way.

The episode started and they both hummed along to the tune, not as enthusiastic as before. Thomas still sounded amazing, though.

When they were about 10 minutes in, Newt couldn’t help but shudder. It was so damn cold in his room, and at first he could ignore it and draw some heat from Thomas, but now it was really getting too much. 

Thomas turned his head to the side, raising an amused eyebrow. He once glanced down at Newt’s bare arms, covered in goose bumps, and seemed like he came to a conclusion.

“Cold?”

Newt shrugged. “Nah.”

When Thomas kept staring him down, he rolled his eyes. “Okay, so maybe a _little_.”

The brunet chuckled and then unwrapped himself from his blanket burrito, which was apparently a very hard task considering the groans leaving the boy’s mouth. When he was finally free; the thing now loosely draped on him, he held up the thing for Newt.

The blond snorted. “I’m not sharing a blanket with you.”

Thomas grinned. “What a shame.” He shook the hand with the end of the blanket in it. “Here, take it though.”

Newt eyed it curiously. “You sure?” Thomas had been wrapped up in the thing all afternoon like it was a second skin, and now he wanted to give it away?

“Yeah, sure. I got my hoodie.” The boy pulled the hood closer to his head, throwing the blanket on top of Newt. 

Huh, okay then. If he insisted…

Newt draped the thing over himself, immediately warming up and relishing the warmth it still had from Thomas. 

They continued watching and everything was fine for a few minutes.

Until Thomas’s teeth started chattering. Newt frowned and turned to the side, only to see the brunet shaking a little, curled up in himself. 

I got my hoodie, my ass

Newt raised an eyebrow. “Cold?” He couldn’t stop the smirk creeping on his lips. 

Thomas turned his head as well, and Newt’s stomach did a flip in surprise when he noticed how close their faces were. 

“I would say no, but honestly, I’m fucking freezing.”

Newt squinted for a moment. He was just at normal temperature again, and now Thomas needed the blanket back? Shit. But he also couldn’t let the guy freeze here. But he wasn’t going to share the blanket.

…

It would be warm.

 _Whatever_.

Only this once, because they both needed it and because he was too lazy to walk downstairs to grab another one. 

He pulled part of the blanket off of himself and draped it over Thomas, who let out a content sigh. The boy smiled at him and opened his mouth to say something, but Newt cut him off.

“Only this once, and this never happened. Understood?”

Thomas grinned and nodded, turning back to the episode again. 

It was pretty… comfortable. And warm. But because he had to give away part of the thing, he wasn’t as warm as before. 

He ignored Thomas’ amused glances when he snuggled the tiniest bit closer to him. It was just to warm up.

It only occurred to him minutes later that he also could’ve just crawled under the duvet.

But it was too late to change that now anyways, and he was comfortable, so he pushed the thought away and enjoyed this peaceful little moment.

-

When the episode ended, Thomas made no move to go home, so Newt just started the next one. He didn’t even know what time it was, and it also didn’t really matter seeing as it was the weekend. 

They were pulled out of their world when someone knocked on his door. 

“Newt?”

Newt rolled his eyes. “Hi, mum!”

Two seconds later his mother stepped inside, still in her work clothes, a bright smile on her face. 

“Hello, honey! I’m home and- oh, hi!”

Her gaze shifted to Thomas, who was currently pulling his hood off his head and scrambling off the bed. “Hello, ma’am.”

Newt almost burst out laughing at Thomas’ polite voice.

His mother smiled at him and stuck her hand out. Thomas shook it firmly. 

“Thomas, nice to meet you.”

“Hi Thomas! Call me Sarah, please.”

Thomas smiled back and fell back on the bed again, immediately curling up into the blanket like the two seconds out of the thing had made him hypothermic. 

“Are you one of Newt’s friends?” His mother asked, her eyes lingering on the shared blanket for just a second.

Thomas nervously glanced his way. “We, uh-”

Newt nudged his shoulder. “We study together.”

The brunet smiled a little. “Yeah, and we were done for today so we were just watching some Netflix.”

Sarah nodded. “Sounds fun.” She turned to Newt. “I just wanted to let you know that I was home and that Steve will be here any minute as well. I think dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

Newt smiled at her. She was really sweet. “Thanks mum, I’ll be downstairs in a few.”

His mother waved one last time at them and then closed the door behind her again. 

“So, that was my mom.”

Thomas chuckled. “She’s nice.”

Sighing, Newt settled down on the pillows again. “Yeah, she is.”

After a few seconds of silence, Thomas spoke up. “So, is Steve your…?”

“Step-dad.” Newt finished for him. 

Thomas nodded. “You like him?”

Newt smiled, remembering the first time he’d met the guy. He was in a dark place, didn’t want to come out of bed anymore, was always tired. And even though the guy hadn’t prevented him from trying to end it all, he did make his life a little lighter and better. 

“Yeah. He’s the best.”

Thomas didn’t say anything anymore, and just kept watching the screen, but Newt didn’t miss the way his smile was a little sad.

-

With one glance at Thomas’ Rolex it was clear that he needed to go home. They untangled themselves from the blankets and walked downstairs, talking about how cute Harriet and Sonya were. How they’d come up with the topic, Newt had no idea, but it was really easy to talk to Thomas and he kind of enjoyed it. 

Thomas grabbed his shoes and put them on, and at the same time Steve walked downstairs, dressed in sweatpants and an old marvel shirt he’d once bought for Newt. Newt had loved the design, but it had been 5 sizes too big, so he just gave it back.

Steve high-fived Newt as a greeting and introduced himself to Thomas, shaking his hand firmly. Before Newt could grasp what was going on, they were in a heated conversation about how unfair it was that so many people had died in Infinity War. Newt could immediately see the two liked each other. 

“Oh Thomas, do you want to stay for dinner?” His mom suddenly called from the kitchen, stirring in some pot. It smelled amazing, like it was some Italian restaurant, and Newt suddenly felt his stomach churn. He was pretty hungry. 

Thomas glanced at him, as if asking what he should say, and Newt really didn’t know. At first he wanted to say no, no way, but it couldn’t be that bad; his parents liked him and Thomas could talk about anything. So actually, it was fine with him. It could be fun. So he shrugged.

Apparently Thomas had read his gesture a little differently, because after a few seconds, Thomas turned back to his mother. “No, thank you. But another time, maybe?”

 _Oh._

Okay, that was fine too.

Newt tried his best to not act disappointed. 

Steve clapped the boy on the shoulder. “Ah, what a shame. You sure?”

Thomas smiled a little and observed Newt once more. “Yeah, I’m sure. Next time, though.”

“Of course! You’re welcome here anytime!” His mom waved at him. “Newt, go let your friend out.”

Steve gave Thomas another handshake. “Nice to meet you, Thomas.” 

Thomas smiled, and for some reason he looked like he was at the brim of tears. “Yeah, you too, sir.”

“Call me Steve, please. Otherwise I feel so old.” Newt’s stepdad walked over to the kitchen to give his mom a kiss, and Newt and Thomas both looked at them with a smile on their faces. 

After a few seconds, the blond snapped out of it and nudged Thomas with his shoulder. The brunet seemed to be in a trance as well, and he shook his head. On their way to the hallway Thomas gave Nancy a rub on her belly. 

“Hey girl, next time I’ll go cuddle you, okay? Yes, you are a good girl.”

Newt smiled at it; it was heartwarming to see Thomas playing with her.

When they arrived in the hallway, Thomas put on his leather jacket. Newt leaned against the front door and watched him while he did, shamelessly admiring the smooth movements. There was nothing wrong with checking your friends out once in a while. 

Wait. 

_Friends?_

“It smells like your mom’s an amazing cook.” The boy commented, adjusting the collar. 

Newt smiled, feeling a little proud. She really was. “Yeah, she is.”

“We’ll probably be eating some cheap take out or something.” Thomas made a gagging sound. 

Newt shrugged, feeling a little smug. “Well, you could’ve stayed.”

Thomas snorted. “You didn’t want me there.”

“What?” Newt stepped forward, raising his eyebrows, “I never said that!”

Shrugging, Thomas’ face fell a little. “Well, since you don’t like me, I just automatically assumed you didn’t want to eat dinner with me.”

Newt swallowed. Oh yeah. That sounded pretty… logical. 

“Unless…”, Thomas tilted his head and stepped forward, right into his personal space. “You like me now.”

He did. 

It was not like he suddenly wanted to hug the guy (okay maybe he did) and that he wanted to spend every minute with him, but he definitely didn’t didn’t like him anymore. 

Fuck.

The silence apparently spoke for him, because Thomas started grinning like an idiot, his eyes shining with happiness and smugness. Newt wanted to smack him. He grabbed the guy by the shoulders and turned them around, pushing him towards the door. 

“You know what? On second thought, I’m really glad you’re not staying,” he opened the door and pushed Thomas out, “I can’t see your face for a minute longer.”

Thomas stumbled outside and laughed loudly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He had a cute laugh. 

Newt crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, staring the boy down. 

Thomas straightened up again after a few seconds and put his hands in his pockets. “Y’know, Newt, I had fun today.”

Newt was about to raise his eyebrows in surprise, but of course he boy continued before he could say anything. 

“On scale from one to Minho, this was like, a 3.9.”

Newt closed his eyes, but couldn’t keep in the smile. It was frustrating. He inclined his head. 

“Oh yeah? And you know what? You’re a dick.”

Thomas shook his head amusedly and then took a few steps backwards, grinning widely. “Hmm, sure. Have a nice weekend, Newt.”

“Yeah, you too, Tommy.” He chuckled one last time and then closed the door, not missing Thomas waving at him one last time. 

He had to slam his head against the door a few times to stop smiling. The guy was fucking infuriating. He kind of wanted to kick him 24/7, but he also wanted to smile whenever he was around. 

It was very annoying that he didn’t have control over his own laughter. 

And when his mom asked him during dinner why he was so happy, he couldn’t answer the question exactly. 

-

#### Saturday

\- Thomas- 15:47: hey

Newt frowned at his phone. Why the hell was Thomas texting him?

\- Thomas- 15:47: so i know its really weird to be asking you this but your kinda the only person i know who is smart enough to have the answers correct

\- Thomas- 15:48: did you finish your chemistry homework yet and if so, could you send me pictures of it?

Newt raised his eyebrows in surprise and then let out a chuckle. That was not what he’d been expecting.

\- Newt- 15:49: You’re already doing your homework on a Saturday? 

\- Thomas- 15:49: dont judge me i was bored

\- Thomas- 15:49: do u have it? :)

Newt sighed and walked upstairs, there rummaging through his drawer with books and notebooks. When he eventually found it, he threw it on his bed.

\- Newt- 15:51: Yea 

\- Thomas- 15:52: okay……..?

\- Newt: 15:52: You only get it if I get pictures of Biology

\- Thomas- 15:53: ahhahahah deal

Newt smiled at his phone. Good, now he at least didn’t have to do that homework. He sent the pictures and at the same time Thomas sent him the Biology exercises. 

\- Thomas- 15:55: thankyouuuu youre the best

Why his heart made a tiny jump, he didn’t really know. 

\- Newt- 15:55: I know. Thank you too though

\- Thomas- 15:55: ;)

\- Thomas- 15:56: do u have snapchat

\- Newt- 15:56: Yup

\- Thomas- 15:56: whats ur username

\- Newt- 15:56: newt_isaacs

\- Thomas- 15:58: boooorrinngg

Newt scoffed. And then he saw that Thomas added him. He clicked on the notification and… he burst out laughing.

\- Newt- 15:58: Oh WHAT

\- Newt- 15:58: thomasthedankengine is better?

\- Newt- 15:58: You’re in no fucking position to judge

\- Thomas- 15:58: I WAS YOUNG OKAY I THOUGHT IT WAS COOL AND FUNNY

Newt laughed and shook his head. What an idiot. 

\- Newt- 15:58: Hahahahhah it’s really stupid I’m sorry

\- Newt- 15:59: And don’t you dare spam me with stupid pictures now

\- Thomas- 15:59: ;p

-

When a few hours later he checked Snapchat, had a snap from Thomas. Though when he opened it, it turned out to be more than one. And it were all selfies. They weren’t good, or anything. It looked like the guy had solemnly made them to annoy Newt. And they did. Kind of. Not really though. 

He sent back a picture of himself with his middle finger up.

-

Gally and Minho were sitting on the other end of the couch in the basement. His parents were out with friends, so he had invited his friends over to have a little company. They were just chilling; a movie was playing in the background, drinks and snacks were at the table and they were talking about everything and nothing. 

Newt was scrolling at his phone a bit, occasionally commenting on a meme, when he received a snap from Thomas. Curiously, he opened the video, and when he saw what it was he burst out laughing. 

He couldn’t even exactly make out what the guy was doing, but it seemed like he was upside down with straws in his mouth, blowing bubbles in water. 

He shook his head and quickly typed a response. 

\- Newt: what on earth are you doing 

Thomas sent back a selfie where he had three straws in his mouth and sticking out his tongue. It was pretty impressive

\- Thomas: don’t judge im bored out of my mind

Newt chuckled, ignoring the way his chest warmed when he realized that Thomas had only sent this to him. Minho nudged his leg. 

“Whatcha smiling at?”

Newt showed him the picture of Thomas and as expected, both Gally and Minho burst out laughing as well. After Newt had taken his phone back, Minho suddenly spoke up. 

“Invite him over.”

His eyebrows probably reached his hairline. Minho wanted to invite Thomas over to their night? Ridiculou- 

…

It could be fun. 

Gally nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, do that!”

Newt bit his lip, considering it. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to see Thomas or anything. Quite the opposite, actually. Since yesterday the boy had constantly lingered in his mind, so seeing him again wouldn’t be that bad. 

But what if he was different like this; with more people around? What if he suddenly became annoying and tried to act ‘cool’, and then Newt’s whole image of him, that had just improved a bit, would shatter? He’d be kind of disappointed if that happened. 

Although, didn’t he kind of know Thomas? He knew the guy was nice, sweet, honest, and a lot more, actually. He didn’t really seem the type who’d suddenly act like an asshole to prove himself to people. 

So with a little nervous tingle in his stomach, he messaged the guy.

\- Newt: come over

Maybe it was a little blunt, but whatever.

A few seconds later he got a response.

\- Thomas: what

\- Thomas: .

\- Thomas: you

\- Thomas: want me

\- Thomas: to come over

\- Thomas: on a saturday night

\- Thomas: to your house

Newt rolled his eyes. Okay, he could’ve expected this. 

\- Newt: Minho and Gally are here too

\- Thomas: oooooooooooooohhhhhhh

\- Thomas: that explains a lot

\- Thomas: but r u serious?

Newt bit his lip. He was. 

\- Newt: yeah

\- Thomas: huh

\- Thomas: fun

\- Thomas: ill be there in 20 if thats okay

\- Newt: of course

\- Newt: brings snacks though

-

About half an hour later, Newt heard Nancy frantically barking upstairs, and he knew that Thomas had arrived. When a few seconds later he heard soft whining and cooing, he could also imagine how Thomas was rolling on the floor with her. He smiled at the thought. 

A few minutes later Thomas came in, looking gorgeous as ever. He was wearing dark jeans and a black shirt, a loose red flannel with the sleeves rolled up thrown over it. His hair was a mess, but in a cute way, and Newt scolded himself for even thinking that.

The brunet waved a little shyly at the trio sitting on the couch. “Hi.”

Thankfully Minho immediately greeted him enthusiastically, not making it awkward. “Hey buddy! Nice you’re here too man!”

Thomas chuckled and walked over to the couch, seeming to have shaken all awkwardness and shyness off of him. It made Newt feel strangely relieved; he liked this Thomas way better. 

He put down his bag with, what Newt assumed were snacks, he sat down crossed legged in front of the Newt on the ground- but there were pillows, facing Minho and Gally on the other end. 

Gally almost immediately stood up, excitedly clapping in his hands. “I’m going to get us drinks. Minho, what do you want?”

Minho scooted a little closer to Newt and Thomas and waved around. “Whatever you’re having.”

Nodding, Gally turned to him. Newt shrugged. “Same.”

“And Thomas?”

Thomas coughed and looked up, smiling a little sheepishly. “I, uh- I’m good.”

Gally seemed to have not fully understood him, because he nodded and sprinted up the stairs, yelling “Will do!”

Newt chuckled at him. Minho, on the other hand, seemed to have found another reason to smile. He waggled his eyebrows, and Newt’s heart started hammering in his chest, already preparing himself for what he knew would come. And he didn’t know how to answer. 

“So,” Minho drawled, “how’s your relationship going?”

Newt swallowed and looked helplessly at Thomas, but the brunet thankfully didn’t look twice as panicked as he probably did. The boy turned around a little and lay his arms down on Newt’s legs, leaning his head on them.

“Well, it’s pretty manageable.” He answered, smirking up at Newt. 

And suddenly, he wasn’t anxious anymore. It now seemed crazy that he even was in the first place. This was Minho and Thomas, goddammit. Minho was his best friend, and even though he was a dick sometimes- in a good way, he would never, ever judge him. And Thomas… Well, Thomas was Thomas. And Newt didn’t know the guy that well yet, but he kind of liked him, and…

He didn’t know exactly. All he knew was that he trusted the guy, and that he made him feel… some way. He was nice. So why supposedly hate him? Newt was someone who loved to go into denial, but this was just unnecessary. Why keep up the tough-I hate you act, when they could also just simply have fun?

Not that he didn’t like the whole ‘I hate you’ act, but it was way more fun if it was just in a teasing way. If it wasn’t already. 

So he grinned at Thomas and let the boy continue. 

“Y’know, Newt doesn’t yell at me every time anymore.”

Scoffing, he smacked Thomas’ head, turning to Minho. “And Thomas does his work for a change, so I don’t have to.”

Thomas laughed and ducked his head down for a second, as if trying to hide his amusement, but it didn’t really worked because when he came back up he was still smiling.

“We still hate each other though.” He explained to Minho, patting Thomas’ bare forearm.

“Yeah, obviously.” Thomas chimed with a wink.

And even though he really didn’t want to, Newt burst out laughing, wriggling around with his legs to get Thomas off his legs and to kick him. 

He vaguely registered Minho sarcastically muttering something about how they indeed looked like they hated each other, but he was too busy wrestling Thomas with his legs. The guy grabbed his feet and tried to push them up, but he was faster and locked Thomas’ hands between his legs. 

It continued for a while, the both of them giggling and groaning like idiots, and then Gally came down with cups and a bottle of cola and vodka. Newt nudged Thomas one last time and then the boy let go, grinning amusedly at him. 

Gally sat down on the floor and poured a cup with both liquids, giving it to Minho when it was filled. The Asian boy immediately took a gulp, not to Newt’s surprise; the guy loved to drink. He himself didn’t really feel it tonight; he’d rather just chill a little, but he told himself one drink wouldn’t hurt and that he’d probably have more fun because of it. The fact that he was going to be hung-over tomorrow was pushed far away. 

Next, Gally poured himself a drink, and then filled another cup and handed it to Newt. He took it with a nod and smelled it briefly. 

_Strong_. 

He coughed once, ignoring the snort from the brunet in front of him. He was handed a cup too, but Thomas shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

Gally raised his eyebrows. “What? You don’t drink?”

Chuckling a little awkwardly, vaguely gestured around with his hands. “Well, no, I do, just… not much. Only when I’m really feeling it, y’know?”

If it had been Newt, he would’ve shrugged and set the cup aside, saving it for later, but of course his friends weren’t as thoughtful. Minho scooted forward and snatched the cup from Gally, holding it dangerously to Thomas’ mouth, a devilish smirk on his face. 

“Ah, come on. You’re not feeling it now? Go, drink.”

Thomas shook his head again. The smile was still present, but Newt could see that he was actually getting uncomfortable. “I don’t want to, I’m sorry.”

Minho blew a raspberry, and from the way a little bit of spit flew out of his mouth Newt could tell he was already a bit tipsy. One glance at the cup beside the boy told him all he needed to know; it was already empty. 

Minho nudged the cup to Thomas’ lip again, almost forcing the drink into Thomas’ mouth, and Newt’s stomach churned. “Come on! We’re having fun!”

And that was when it was enough. Newt shot forward and forced his hand between the cup and Thomas’ lips, staring at Minho intensely. 

“Minho. He said he didn’t want to.”

The Korean boy looked confused for a second, but then he scoffed and shook his head, backing off immediately. “I’m sorry. Thomas, really, I just wanted you to have fun.”

Thomas squinted at him for a beat, but then smiled softly and patted Minho’s knee. “It’s fine, man. I get it. Just,” He licked his lips and glanced up at Newt. “Not tonight. Another time though.”

Minho smiled apologetically. “Deal. But seriously, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Nodding, Thomas retracted his hand and lay his arm down on Newt’s thigh again as if it was completely normal. “It’s fine dude. Really.”

Finally, Minho looked himself again and he blew out a breath. “Good. Now,” He turned to Gally who’d been watching the whole scenario unfold before his eyes, and squeezed his neck, “what are we going to do?”

Gally closed his eyes, as if he was thinking really deeply, and at the same time Thomas squeezed his thigh. Newt peered down at him, surprised by the sudden touch and Thomas smiled softly, eyes glimmering, and mouthed, ‘ _thank you_ ’.

Newt winked back. 

“Oh, I know something!” All three of them looked up at Gally’s sudden exclamation. 

“Truth or dare!”

They all groaned loudly.

-

They ended up playing charades. And drunk, even though not everyone was, that was hilarious. Newt was teamed up with Gally and Thomas and Minho formed the other pair. 

The latter sucked. 

Five rounds (and a lot of laughs) later, Minho hadn’t guessed one thing Thomas did, and he got fed up with it. 

“Okay, team switch!” He exclaimed after yet another bad performance. “Thomas sucks at this, I want someone else.”

Thomas gaped. “What?! You suck, I’m doing everything right!”

Minho made a face. “Yeah, no. You’re the worst.” He beckoned for Gally to come his way. “Gally, you’re with me.”

Newt inwardly sighed, because if Gally and Minho were a team, that meant he had to go with Thomas, but when the guy walked up to him to high-five him, probably celebrating the fact that they were together now, he forgot about the disappointment and returned the high-five with the same amount of excitement. 

Thomas squeezed his hand. “Let’s see how we do, _Newtie_.”

Newt laughed and pushed him in the direction of the ‘stage’. “You better not suck.”

“Oh, I won’t.” Thomas replied, grabbing a paper from the bowl. He stretched his arms out to the side, and Newt knew it immediately.

“Titanic!”

Thomas smiled victoriously at Minho, who in reply scoffed. “That was luck.”

At that, Thomas did another one. 

“Marilyn Monroe!” Newt yelled, not caring that he was probably a little too enthusiastic.

The brunet winked at him and crossed his arms. “See? You were bad at this. Newt gets everything.”

“Yeah, that’s because you two are in love and then you can read minds.”

Both boys burst out laughing, and Newt was going to kill Minho later for that comment. Eventually Thomas composed himself again and grabbed another paper out of the bowl, preparing for the next performance. 

“Well, in love or not, we’re gonna win this.” Thomas grinned at him.

And Newt just shook his head with a smile, the alcohol in his system forcing him not to comment on the ‘in love’ remark. 

-

They won. 

Gally and Minho celebrated their loss with shots, while Thomas and Newt watched them suffer. 

Unfortunately his parents came home at 1:00, and the night had to end. 

“Hey Thomas, nice to see you again!” Steve called the moment he came into the basement, not minding the alcohol on the table. Newt was allowed to drink, because in Britain it was allowed when you were eighteen, and he was 17 and 10 months. Close enough. As long as he didn’t drink too much and if he was in a safe place when he did, his parents were okay with it. 

Thomas smiled and stood up, shaking the man’s hand. The others followed and stood up as well. Newt walked behind them up the stairs, fighting the urge to push Thomas a little.

When they were in the living room, all his friends (well, his friends and Thomas) greeted his mom briefly, and in return she gave them all a pat on the back. 

He was making some small talk with Minho when they arrived in the hallway, and the boys shrugged their jackets on, all three standing next to each other. 

Gally was the first one to say goodbye. The guy gave him a hug. “Had fun tonight, thanks we could be here man.”

He smiled and went to give Minho a hug, and the Asian boy returned it firmly. Newt could feel (and smell) from his grip that he was more than a little tipsy, but he knew the boy meant well. 

“Newt I love you bro you’re the best.” The words came out slurred, but Newt didn’t really care. 

“Love you too, mate.” He chuckled, giving the guy a final squeeze. 

And then.

Thomas. 

The brunet was the next one in line. He was tapping his fingers on his thigh a little awkwardly, avoiding his gaze. And Newt didn’t know what to do either. 

He scraped his throat. “So, see you later…?”

Thomas glanced up at him, small smile playing around his lips and his eyes twinkling. He let out a soft laugh. “Yeah. I had fun tonight.”

Newt swallowed. “Me too.”

God, this was awkward. Why was it so weird to talk normally to Thomas?

Thankfully, Minho broke the moment by opening the door and saying one last goodbye and then the guy was gone, off to his house. Gally waved too, tripping once over his feet with a goofy smile. 

And then there were two. 

Newt shivered at the cold air hitting his bare arms, and swallowed to get the uneasy feeling down. Thomas nodded at him, seeming to consider something for a moment, before he lifted his hand and patted him on the back. “Bye, man.”

He stiffened at the casual contact. “Bye,” Newt muttered with a last wave when Thomas was finally out the door, and he hated how his voice was so weak. 

“You know,” Of course Thomas still had to say something. The guy turned around, smirk on his face. “Tonight was like a seven. But Minho and Gally were here, so it must be them.”

Newt hated how he couldn’t keep in his laugh. “Oh, fuck off.”

“Night!” Thomas called as he stepped into his car.

“Sleep well later!”

And then the car was gone, driving off into the night, and Newt was left smiling in the doorway, unable to stop. 

Fuck.

-

#### Monday

“I have a test on Thursday.”

Newt glanced up from his position behind his desk to look at Thomas, who was chilling on his bed, scrolling a little on his phone. 

“French?”

“Yup.”

Newt smirked, focusing on his own books again. Thomas had wanted to study again this afternoon, but all he did was watch videos on his phone, so well, Newt decided to just let it go. 

“Good luck then.”

“Newt,” Thomas whined, sitting up. “I can’t do it.”

Newt shrugged like he didn’t care. “Maybe if you did something now you could.”

Thomas scoffed. “Mean.”

“Hey, I’m just saying, if you want my help, or you want to study here, that’s fine, but otherwise please just leave me alone. I need to focus.” Okay, it was a little harsh, maybe, but he was stressed. He tapped the table impatiently, frustratedly. “Fucking history.”

He was so fucking going to fail that test Wednesday. 

“Sorry.” Came muffled from the bed. 

A few minutes later Thomas dragged himself to the desk, sitting down determinedly and grabbing his books with a frown. 

“If you can explain the imparfait one more time, then the rest should be okay.” He murmured, looking up at Newt with big doe eyes, and Newt’s heart flipped in confusion. Why was Thomas suddenly being so- shy?

He smiled, a little confused, and shoved his own books aside. “Of course, what don’t you understand?”

“Oh,” Thomas’ eyes widened in surprise a bit, like he hadn’t expected Newt to actually do it. “I- Uh, when do you use avoir, and when être?”

They’d been over this eleven fucking times. 

But Newt kept his calm, patiently explaining it again. 

And then another time. 

After an hour of going over the same thing and practicing it, Thomas seemed to understand it a little. 

“You get it?” Newt asked, a little exasperated. 

“I- think so?” Thomas sighed, closing his books. “Whatever, it’ll be fine. I should go home.”

The guy stood up, grabbed his bag and walked towards the door of the bedroom. “Bye.”

And Newt-

Was speechless. 

What the hell had happened? He thought they were- okay. Not friends, but, also not at this level, right? And it was weird, Thomas leaving so suddenly. The last few times he’d stayed, watching Netflix or just fucking around. This- this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He felt a pang of pain shooting through his chest and he frowned, the words spilling out of his mouth before he even knew what he was doing. 

“Wait a second.”

Thomas halted in the doorway, questions swimming in his eyes. “Yeah?”

“We’re… okay, right?” Newt’s voice was weak, wavery. “Did I do something wrong- or…”

Suddenly Thomas laughed, and it sounded so relieved that it made a weight fall off Newt’s shoulders. “Oh, my, no. Not at all.” The guy smiled, shaking his head. “I- I thought you were mad at me, so I thought I’d be better if I left.”

Uh, what?

“Why the hell would I be mad at you?” Newt asked with a scoff a little incredulously. 

“I don’t know, just-“ Thomas shrugged, looking down at his feet. “I just came here, not doing anything, and- well, I thought we were kind of becoming…friends?”

Newt’s eyebrows shot into his hairline.

“No, not friends. Just, _acquaintances_. But then you were kinda snappy and I just thought I’d fucked it all up, so I wanted to leave because I felt bad.” He finished, licking his lips and hesitantly looking up.

Newt sighed, smiling reassuringly. “Dude, no, I wasn’t mad. Just a little stressed, that’s why I was snappy. Don’t worry.”

When Thomas smiled brightly, he added with a wink. “I still hate you though.”

Wow, that remark was really going to lose its believability. 

“Hmhmm. I hate you too, obviously.”

“Get out of here, you _punk_.” Newt orderd him with a smile, and the moment Thomas was out the door, he sighed deeply, burying his head in his hands, because no matter how much he wanted to, no matter how much he told himsel that he indeed hated the guy, the warm feeling in his stomach and the realization that he wouldn't mind if Thomas stayed a bit longer told him otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aand that was it sorry if it was bad thank you for reading ily
> 
> i wanna say that i picked up the bad habit of not reacting to comments, but i want to start doing it again and i want to say that fuck, i read everything back again and they were sooo sweet so don't stop doing it they make my fucking day i swear <3


	9. sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas sends newt a text past midnight, and after some waiting, he finally decides to be nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this chapter is a literal joke dont get too excited and also its SHORT af so he he 
> 
> no but n e ways, hi hoes, IM BACK AGAIN lol not for good but i just wanted to post something ya knooowww
> 
> as i said, im in no way back, but i wrote this minimini chapter and that's a start, am i right?  
> i hope all of you had a great christmas and a happy start of your new year, that'd make me very happy :)  
> my new years resolution was to start writing this again and really m not gonna make up all kinds of excuses again, i am a Slow Writer and i was too busy with other things but i love those of you who are still here and also the people who've left already, know that i completely understand u and I don't blame you hahahhah
> 
> even tho it's short, still hope you enjoy xx

####  Tuesday – 16 th October

 

Newt didn’t miss. 

 

Newt didn’t miss his dog that died when he was three. He didn’t miss his grandfather who died when he was ten, and he didn’t miss his dad who stayed in England while his mom and he went looking for a better life in the states. 

 

He thought missing things was a waste of time, because they weren’t going to come back, and as much as it sucked, he had to deal with it. 

 

Deal with his dog dying, deal with his grandfather dying and deal with his father leaving. So he didn’t miss. 

 

And he certainly,  _ certainly _ didn’t miss Thomas. 

 

…

 

Though, he had to admit, it had been a little quiet at school without anyone to annoy, or to kick under the table the last days while the other people were just happily conversing, having no idea of what was going on. 

 

He sighed, turning around in his bed. He should sleep. He should really sleep, and not think about Thomas, or missing Thomas, or anything Thomas. He had a history test tomorrow, for fucks sake, and he couldn’t fail that. It was already… he picked up his phone from the nightstand, turning it on and squinting at the harsh light that came from it. 

 

00:31

 

He should really sleep.

 

Newt sighed again and closed his eyes and slowly, slowly he felt himself sagging away, deeper into that sleep state and he could feel his limbs start to float a little, his thoughts becoming more blurry-

 

A buzz from his phone was what shook him awake again. He cursed under his breath. Who the fuck could send him a message this late?

 

He groaned, grabbing his phone and opening the message with a frown but he figured if someone texted at 00:46 it had to be kind of important-

 

Thomas – can i come over?

 

Newt’s stomach did a flip in surprise and he read over the message once, twice, with an open mouth before he even realized what it said. After a whole day of not seeing him or hearing from him, the guy just disappearing, Thomas wanted to come over?  _ Now _ ? Must be some kind of joke. 

 

Newt shook his head, typing back a response. Whatever prank Thomas was pulling on him wasn’t funny. 

 

Newt – It’s the middle of the fucking night

 

Maybe a little harsh, but he was properly  _ annoyed _ .

 

The response came a few seconds later. 

 

Thomas – i know

 

Thomas – can i?

 

The answer made him swallow. 

 

Either Thomas was drunk off his ass, wandering around the streets and that means Newt should definitely give him shelter, or Thomas was studying really hard for his French test right now and he didn’t understand something and now he wants to come over so that Newt can explain. In that case, Newt should really tell him to fuck off. 

 

Or there was something else going on, something a little worse, something that Newt can’t- doesn’t dare to think of, and if that was happening, he should also definitely give Thomas shelter.

 

Two against one. 

 

Fuck. 

 

Newt – My window’s open.

 

He sighed and put his phone down again, because after two minutes of staring at the screen he figured he wasn’t going to get a response anymore. Maybe he should turn on the lights? It would be kind of weird for Thomas to come into a dark room, right? What did Thomas expect, anyways? Did he want to sleep here, or did he just want to sit here, talk?

 

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

 

About ten minutes later, he heard a small sound coming from his window. He didn’t bother getting up; merely sat up in his bed and then Thomas was standing in his room, in his ripped jeans with a mere thin pullover, worn out sneakers on his feet. 

 

The guy smiled, although it was barely there. Fiddled with the paws of his oversized shirt. “Hey.”

 

Newt frowned, although he really tried to put on a gentle smile. “Hey.”

 

Thomas licked his lips, hesitantly looked up at him, though he averted eye contact after a split second. His eyes scanned over the unkempt bed where Newt had been tossing and turning. “Were you- uh, were you sleeping?”

 

Newt shook his head, even though it was kind of a lie. “No.”

 

“Good.”

 

This was definitely not weird. 

 

Definitely  _ not _ . 

 

After a few seconds of just looking at his feet, Thomas walked over to his desk and sat down on the chair, swiveling around a bit and fiddling with the paws again. He seemed lost in thought, his eyes empty, void of the usual spark they got and his expression slack. Newt couldn’t read him, except for the incredible sadness radiating off of him, but it felt- distant. Like he was not even here. 

 

It felt fucking wrong. 

 

He rasped his throat, trying to keep his voice down a bit. He didn’t want his parents to know there was a boy in his room after midnight, a boy he has once laid under a blanket with. 

 

“So, why are you here?” He asked quietly. 

 

Thomas shrugged, the movement barely perceptible. He looked empty.

 

“I don’t really want to talk about it, actually.” He looked up, those empty eyes now directed at him. “That okay?”

 

Newt ignored the sting in his heart. “Sure.”

 

Silence fell over them once again and Newt  _ cringed _ . This was definitely one of the most weird moments in his life. Thomas just sat there, staring at the wall, or occasionally at his fingers, sometimes sniffling - from the cold?- and sometimes sighing. It was not exactly awkward, though, since Newt seemed the only person actually  _ there _ . Thomas seemed far away- somewhere where the room wasn’t as silent and peaceful as here.

 

Maybe it worried Newt.. 

 

He clicked his tongue after a few minutes, trying to get some life into the guy again. “Do you want to talk about something else, or… do something?”

 

Thomas merely shook his head. “Just sitting here is fine.”

 

Silence once again. 

 

Looking down at his lap, Newt played a bit with a silver stray pillow he was hugging. What did he have to do now? Thomas didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to do anything, so now what? Why was he even here? He glanced up at Thomas again, and this time he saw something glistening in the boy’s eyes. The guy swallowed thickly, exhaled deeply, and then continued fiddling, bouncing his leg up and down. 

 

“Do you want me to stay up?” Newt asked after a while, because his eyes were starting to fall closed. Maybe a little rude, but this was still Thomas sitting here, and his head hurt and he had an exam tomorrow. 

 

_Sleep_ was what he needed. 

 

At the question, Thomas’ eyes suddenly snapped up and he exhaled sharply shaking his head vigorously. He stood up, stumbling a bit and he swallowed, breathing shaky. 

 

“You know what- I , uh-“ Newt could see his fingers start to tremble. “I shouldn’t have come here, I’m sorry- I’ll leave now.”

 

And Newt-

 

He felt sick at the sight of Thomas like this. He didn’t want to, didn’t want the guy to have this kind of influence over him but he still felt sick because he once dealt with Thomas during a panic attack and it still haunts his dreams and they’re not pretty and fuck- 

 

He couldn’t let this happen either. Before he knew it, he was out of his bed and in front of Thomas, grabbing his wrist and looking up at him with pleading eyes.

 

“No! No- it’s okay.”

 

Thomas seemed surprised by the action but shook his head nonetheless, made a move to pull his hand away. Newt tightened his grip just a bit, swallowing.

 

“Uh- you can sleep here- if you need.”

 

Where that came from, he had no idea. 

 

Thomas frowned and looked at him with a thousand questions swimming in his eyes, looking so,  _ absolutely _ lost like the world around him was crumbling and he was stuck on a single rock floating in the ocean. His lip started to tremble, and Newt really wanted nothing more than to pull the guy to his chest, to soothe and comfort him and to scare those demons that were haunting him away. 

 

“No, I’ll go home, I’m sorry I came here.” The boy exhaled shakily. 

 

“No- Thomas, I’m serious.” Newt stepped forward a little, suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of emotion. “You can stay. I have an extra bed.”

 

The silence hung heavy between them and for a few seconds - which felt like solid minutes - nothing was said. They just stared into each other’s eyes; Newt trying to convince Thomas to stay here because he didn’t want the boy to be out on the streets this late or in this  _ state _ , because he honestly looked like he could collapse any second, and Thomas looking… broken. Broken, and lost. So, utterly, lost.

 

Newt wanted to give him a map, to guide him and to give him a home, even if it was a temporary one. 

 

Then Thomas nodded, slowly but surely, and Newt’s heart did a flip in surprise.

 

“Okay- okay- yeah, sure, let me just-” Newt rambled as he pulled out the second bed from under his own. It was already made, obviously, because it was always ready if someone needed to crash. 

 

And this time it would be Thomas.

 

“So- look, I’ll sleep here and-” he walked over to his closet and got a t-shirt out of it, one that was about three sizes too big for him, so he was sure Thomas would fit it. Turning to the boy, who was still just  _ standing _ there, next to his bed, he held out the shirt. 

 

“You can sleep in this. I don’t think I have pants that fit you so- is that okay?”

 

It seemed like Thomas finally snapped out of his daze, and he stepped forward, took the shirt from him. “Yeah, of course. Thank you.” He added then, quietly, but Newt waved him off and pointed to the bathroom. 

 

“If you wanna brush your teeth or something- you can find some spare stuff in there.”

 

And with a final nod, a small, barely there smile gracing his lips, Thomas nodded and with the old, black shirt in his hands, walked over to the bathroom. 

 

And then Newt was left alone. 

 

He sat down on his bed with a sigh, burying his head in his hands for a minute. 

 

What the hell was he thinking? Why did he think this was a good idea and why did he invite Thomas to sleep in his room but, most importantly-

 

What was going on with Thomas. 

 

Newt didn’t let himself be fooled by the raised shoulders and hard jaw because he saw that slight limp in his walk and the way he winced slightly when he moved too much, but he didn’t know what to think of it.

 

Did he get into a fight? Tried to buy some weed and someone beat him up?

Or…

 

No.

 

Couldn’t be. Not Thomas, of all people. He wouldn’t- go through that.

 

Sighing, he lie down in the second bed. Winced slightly at the hard mattress, in comparison to his soft one, but didn’t complain at all. Thomas deserved- and looked like he needed the rest more than him. 

 

After a while, Thomas retreated from the bathroom in his boxers and the black shirt Newt had given him, still looking a bit out of it. But when his eyes fell on Newt, in that other bed, he suddenly, for a split second, went back to his old self. His eyes widened slightly, his mouth falling open and eyebrows furrowing. 

 

“What are you doing?”

 

Newt raised a lazy eyebrow. “Lying down?”

 

“I- mean, in that bed- I’ll sleep there-”

 

“But this is a crappy matrass,” he explained, but Thomas didn’t seem very glad with that answer. 

 

He shook his head. “Yeah, exactly, I’ll sleep there-”

 

“And you,” Newt interrupted him firmly, “look like you need a good nights sleep. More than I do, at least.”

 

Thomas still didn’t budge. 

 

“It’s clean, don’t worry, I only slept in it one other time-”

 

The guy rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about that.” He bit his lip. “Are you sure?”

 

Newt gestured wildly to the bed next to him, turning a little on his pillow. He was getting tired now and honestly, didn’t care that much where Thomas was going to sleep as long as he just stopped standing there, fiddling with his fingers.

 

“Yeah dude, lie down.”

 

And then  _ finally _ , Thomas nodded, sending him a last insecure glance before crawling under the soft covers. 

 

Newt turned to him, looking up a little because the guy was lying just a bit elevated. “Is it okay if I go to sleep?”

 

Thomas, with his cheek smudged on his pillow, nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

 

Newt smiled. “Okay. Goodnight.” Reaching over to just above the bed, he flicked off the light and then the room was swallowed in darkness. 

 

“Night.”

 

While falling asleep, Newt tried not to think too much of the boy lying in his bed, occasionally sniffling or making a soft sound. Tried not to think too much of the way his eyes looked empty, of the way he’d looked so incredibly lost and hurt and alone.

 

Tried not to think too much of the voice in the back of his mind, whispering filthy secrets he didn’t want to believe, but secrets that became more and more plausibel every time he saw Thomas with a bruise on his wrist or his cheekbone.

 

Tried not to think too much of anything. 

 

“Newt?” A soft voice broke the silence and Newt merely hummed,  the sleep already so deep in his mind that he couldn’t get out of it anymore. 

 

“Thanks for not asking.”

 

But with the last grain of willpower, he still managed to croak out some words. Soft, husky and barely audible, but still there.

 

“You’re welcome, Tommy.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haaaahhh let me know what u thought n also let me know what your new years resolutions are im curious ;)))) mine are getting healthier and getting over my ED ig?? and just being happy in general and enjoying life  
> (and writing this story obv)
> 
> OH AND I WANTED TO ASK, do you guys prefer less updates but longer chapters or a chapter like this n then every two weeks or summ?? let me know x

**Author's Note:**

> Reminder that you are beautiful and amazing and that you can get through whatever you're going through right now. <3


End file.
